There was no conversation as the elevator went down. Tali was in strange state of being worried and also reassured at the same time. She knew that Tom knew what was going to happen, be she was afraid of what he said just before Shepard called them down.
I'll tell you more about this later, all I have to say is this next mission will be a success, but in a different way then both you and probably I will expect.
Tom knew it too, he saw her wringing her hands in a nervous fashion, something she tended to do when she was uncertain or nervous. Fortuntely the worries dispersed when Kaiden stepped onto the elevator, he had that effect on people, which was something Tom noticed was not mentioned in the game.
"Oh hello Tali, how are you doing?" He greeted warmly.
"It's good to see you again Kaiden, I'm glad your here, it's reassuring to have some of the old crew back."
"Yeah, it's good to see you too, with Shepard leading us, I know that he'll win this thing just like he did with Saren."
"I hope so." There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
The elevator doors opened, showing Shepard inside the shuttle.
"Gentlemen, Tali, let's be off." Shepard said courteously.
Tom was a little afraid when the shuttle flew off right into an open war zone between the Quarians and the Geth, and even knowing the future wasn't comforting enough knowing you could be shot at any moment, but fortunately, the Geth didn't use windows, ever, and with the shuttles thermal emissions hidden, they were invisible to the Geth.
"Here's the deal people." Shepard sealed his N7 helmet. "I'm going in through a damaged docking tube alone so that I can infiltrate the base and let you guys in, just wait for me to open the doors when you get to your docking port, got it?" There was the nodding of heads all around.
"Good, also make sure you have full survival gear in since you'll be in open space for a little while, and since Geth ships don't require much Oxygen or gravity."
...
"I never really was a fan of zero gravity." Tom said as he hung on to one of the handles attached to the tiny platform that served as the entry walkway.
"I must admit, it's a bit disorientating." Kaiden said.
"I've had to do it a lot." Tali didn't seem to care. "It honestly isn't a big deal, especially since we won't be here for longer then 10 minutes, when you're out in zero gravity for more then 60 minutes, then it really starts to get really uncomfortable."
The door's entry button turned green. "Heads up!" Kaiden shouted.
"I've unlocked the air lock, can you guys get inside? I'd rather not solo the Dreadnought." Shepard's tone held a hint of amusement.
"Just being honest here, you probably could, pretty sure you wouldn't want to rob everyone of the exp though." Tom said.
"I'd rather not try it, but thanks for the vote of confidence, I appreciate it." He was being genuine.
Tom felt so much better being able to put his feet on solid ground again, it was disorientating being in zero gravity for too long, now he remembered why he didn't every want to be an astronaut back when he was actually born.
"I'l glad you're all here, it was getting a little creepy being alone, Tali, can you get us through this locked door?"
"Of course, while you wait, check out Admiral Xen's prototype." Tali said, putting the weapon down near Shepard.
"Hmm, seems like a scaled down Arc Projector, I like it, does it still have the laser?" Shepard knew his weapons, he was solider after all.
"No, to save power it uses a non visible laser, but it also only requires a thermal clip for ammo."
Shepard nodded appreciatively. "Nice."
"We're through Shepard."
"Ok, let's move."
...
"So what are we looking for?" Shepard asked.
"We're looking for the control center, I can disable the reaper signal there."
"Wouldn't any access console do? I mean the Geth are networked right?"
"Shepard, that's actually a bad idea." Tom said.
"Why?"
"Sure, the Geth are networked, so your point of being able to hack any access console would work, if the Geth didn't have any failsafes in place." He took a breath. "There's too many ways that they could counter us from a regular console, that's why we need to get to the main control panel to gain administrator access, or what ever passes for control over the network."
"What ever he said." Tali said.
"Where's the control center anyway?"
"Pass a defense network and through a sensor cluster, it shouldn't be too far from where we are."
...
"Heads up, people! We've got enemy Geth units right over there, everyone engage! Tom I need you on Over-watch with that Sniper rifle."
"You can count on me, Commander." Sniping was easy and low risk, although it was annoying since some Geth just didn't stop moving, Tom was glad he didn't have to fight any Geth Hoppers, since those things were more slippery than a wet bar of soap.
It was a fairly quick fight, although it was somewhat noticeable that the Geth here were a little better at tactics then they were when Shepard was with Cerberus, at least from what Tom could remember, this was probably due to the Reaper code upgrades they had, but it barely mattered in the long run since Shepard was always better then they were, plus he was packing heat.
"Keep advancing, let's get to the control center before they box us in and form a defensive line." Shepard said.
...
"The operations center is just behind this door."
"Good, lets disable the reaper signal get your fleet to safety."
Inside the entire squad could see the other end of the room, where a Geth hunter cloaked.
"Hunters! Everybody watch your flank! Tali get your defense drone up!" Shepard snapped out before pulling out a Shotgun and shooting a Hunter who had just de-cloaked in the face.
The firefight was tough, considering Tom hated close quarters combat, his only saving grace were his Omni-blades which he used after overloading the shields since a close quarters fight with a cloaked combatant would go bad real quick, especially since Tom was terrible at melee anyway, his Omni-blades just did all the work for him, his technique was pretty bad.
"Good work team, now let-" He was cut off by the distinct sound of something de-cloaking behind him, Shepard spun around, only to see the Hunter have an Omni-blade stabbed right through it's flashlight head.
"You'll thank me later, continue with your speech." Tom said as he de-cloaked.
"Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by a Geth, let's disable that signal that's controlling these guys."
"I'm on it Shepard." Tali said before tapping several commands into the center console of the operations center, then she did the Quarian equivalent of a groan.
"What is it?"
"The Geth have blocked us from shutting down the Reaper signal here, we can't stop it from here, it's in the drive core, we can shut it down from there." Tali said.
"That should be simple enough, let's move."
"That isn't going to be possible Shepard." Shepard turned around as Tom tapped several things on his Omni-tool. "The Geth have sealed emergency bulkheads to block us off, and we don't have explosives to get all the way to the drive core. Although we could use the main battery, it can't be blocked by bulkheads and runs the length of the ship." Tom said.
"Good idea, but we're locked in this room." Tali said.
"I have an idea, Tali which door leads us to the main battery?"
"The one on the far side of the room on the left, why?"
Shepard pulled out several high explosives, they looked somewhat similar to the demolition charges used on Haestrom. Tom could almost see the grin Shepard had on this face as he planted the charges on the doorway.
"There's going to be hostile Geth on the other side of these doors Shepard, I think we should get into defensive positions."
"You're right, everyone back to the command console, we're going to need the high ground in this engagement."
...
"We're almost to the main battery, shouldn't be too much longer."
"I'm actually surprised your father let you go on this mission Tali, wouldn't he be more reluctant?"
"You obviously don't know my father very well, he loves me, and I love him, but we both know that our duty to our people comes first, although I do wish he would spend more time with me sometimes."
"You're lucky you even have an alive father, my father died when I was very young, I can barely remember him anymore." This actually wasn't a lie.
"What happened?" Shepard asked.
Tom shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it, let's just keep going, I'd rather keep my past buried, there's too many old wounds I'd rather not squeeze lemon juice on." He was being honest with that too, plus the guilt would rise up in him every time he remembered how many security systems he had hacked and given to organizations with probably nefarious intentions. He was so dead back then, he just did what his body willed, he never thought about the consequences of his actions, at least until that final hack that he had never completed.
...
"Shepard? This is Admiral Rann." She sounded distraught.
"What is it?"
"The heavy fleet is collapsing, you have to get that signal offline as soon as you can." She said urgently.
"I'll have it offline momentarily, we're almost to the source of the signal and we'll shut it down from there."
"Thank you Commander." She cut comms.
The next room was very linear, it just seemed like a very over-sized hallway, and then Tom flinched. This was THAT room, the annoying one that had the EM pulse that forced you into cover every few seconds, it was annoying as hell and he could remember that it caused him more then his fair share of game over screens.
"Watch the shockwave! That's a huge gun!" Shepard shouted before diving into cover to avoid another pulse.
"If we stick to cover we should be fine, but don't break cover if you hear it charging up!" Tom shouted before sniping a Geth rocket trooper in the shoulder.
The battle was much longer then any conventional fight, because the fight would stop every few seconds because everyone would dive into cover to avoid the blast, even the Geth weren't safe and most of them were hit at least once due to the blast always hitting them on their mostly exposed side.
...
"Bloody hell." Tom muttered as he gunned down the last Geth trooper with his Mattock, and then immediately having to take cover because of the pulse.
"Alright people, let's keep moving, we're probably getting close to the core now." Shepard commanded.
"I'm enabling the maintenance lock on this cannon, it should shut it down for a while, which should let us pass."
"Alright, let's move team."
They got about a quarter of a way through the gun before it turned back on.
"The gun's online! We have to get the hell out of here, now!" Tom shouted before sprinting like mad.
"Everyone out! Go Go!" Shepard shouted, and as soon as everyone was out, he dove and barely made it outside.
"That was a little too close for comfort." Tom observed.
"Fortunately I don't plan on walking through a cannon like that again, nor do I have a death wish so I doubt that'll happen again." Shepard said. "Okay, keep moving forward, and stick to cover when that pulse strikes again."
The next firefight was markedly faster than the previous one, due to the squad actually having experience with the pulse and knowing when to peek and when to keep your head down, it was still annoying to have your shields constantly decimated once every single Geth solider was dead though.
"We seriously need to get rid of this pulse, I'm annoyed with it disabling everything we have every 5 seconds." Tom said, his tone was laced with irritation.
"I agree, Tali can you shut that bloody pulse off?" Shepard asked.
"I think I can, give me a second to hack into this console." Tali said, she had the pulse down quickly, which was a major relief.
"Thanks Tali, now let's get to the core, everyone forward." Then of course the next door was locked.
"Great, Tom can you get Section to break this door open quickly? We're in a bit of hurry here and it would take too longer for anyone else to do it."
"I've got it, give me literally 5 seconds." The door open after that without anymore resistance.
"What's this about? Who's Section?" Tali was clearly confused.
Tom brushed her off. "Trust me, we don't have time right now, I'll explain when we're back on the Normandy."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another elevator ride, let's hope this one isn't as slow as the last one." Shepard said, sarcasm dripping from his mouth, he obviously was not happy with another elevator ride as everyone got on.
"I miss our elevator conversations." Kaiden said somberly.
"It was so much simpler back then, I wish it was still like old times." Tali said.
"Guess everything can't be as simple as chasing Saren was, those were the good days." Shepard said, forlorn.
Tom wasn't listening however, while they were thinking about their own past Tom was remembering his own, the guilt was crushing him right now, only now was he realizing how many terrorist organizations he had probably given the edge to, the guilt was like a ten ton weight, weighing down on his shoulders like he still had that gunshot wound and it was tearing his shoulder apart.
"Tom are you there? Tom!" Shepard shouted.
"Oh what I-" He looked around, everyone was giving him the look. "Sorry." He sighed. "I was just thinking about my past, I'll stop now, no point harping on what's done and gone anyway."
"Yeah." Shepard sounded uncertain. "We're at the core right now, stay alert Tom, now move out!"
A/N: After the next chapter I post I won't be able to post for a while due to my final exams coming up, so you get one more chapter before summer break, and maybe another if I get lucky and manage to squeeze in enough time to make a second chapter, but don't count on it. I feel that the pace of the story is moving along nicely, but that's enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and remember, reviews are always welcome, no matter the criticism.
Speaking of which...
general-joseph-dickson: I'm legitimately curious of what you think, unfortunately it probably isn't going to play out like that.
redcollector: Personally I hated the part with that pulse that disabled the shields, but seeing Legion again made up for it. A lot of things will change in the next chapter.
Br2nd66: What's sad about what your saying is the fact that it's so true that they drop their morality so fast that it literally makes me question how the hell the Illusive man thinks he isn't indoctrinated, although I was distracted from that by my sadness of Kaiden getting his crap kicked in at Mars.
BrotherCaptainSheperd: Yeah, he was indoctrinated before the first game, at least he managed to bring Shepard back to life and help kill the collectors until he switched sides, I think what happened is the stuff they got from blown up Collector base (Reaper heart) was the nail in the coffin that really indoctrinated everyone in Cerberus, but don't quote me on that, this is supported even more if Shepard decides not to destroy the base. (Reaper brain)