Chapter 8
"I think we're getting close to the end of this road, Commander." Tali said, looking up from the radar.
"Why?" Shepard asked while ramming a geth and sending it cart wheeling out over the edge of the skyway.
"Radar is picking up a cluster of energy signatures 300 meters in front of us. It's probably a group of geth trying to guard the other end of the skyway."
"Thanks Tali. Any idea how many?"
"At least six, Commander."
"Six? That's nothing." Shepard said confidently. "Garrus, Tali says we're about to run into a welcoming party. As soon as we're in range, open fire."
"I understand, Commander." Garrus said, checking his optical zoom level and making sure the main gun was ready to fire.
The Mako popped up over a small rise in the skyway, revealing one hell of a "welcoming party." Two squads of regular geth supported two geth armatures and four rocket-wielding geth primes. The multi-species team inside the Mako experienced a brief moment of nearly identical panic.
Oh shit! "Tali, I thought you said six! My eyes are telling me there's more than twice that many out there!" Shepard shouted, slaloming the Mako back and forth in an effort to avoid the first wave of rockets.
Keelah! "I'm sorry Shepard; the radar must have been unable to separate them into individual geth. The armatures are firing!"
By the spirits! "That's a lot of targets, Commander!"
"I know, Garrus. Take out those rocket troopers first, then shift fire to the armatures. I'll deal with the other ones. Thanks for the warning, Tali. I'm gonna need to know about it every time our shields drop by 10%, ok? 90, 80, 70, and so on. Got it? Do whatever you can to keep those shields up as long as you can."
"Affirmative, Commander." Garrus replied, firing the main gun and staggering one of the primes.
"Got it, Shepard." Tali said, quickly followed by two loud sizzles blasting the outside of the Mako. "Shields at 89%." She added.
"Already?" Shepard groaned as he took in the rapidly deteriorating situation. There were three incoming rockets, two geth siege pulses from the armatures, and a lot of small arms fire all headed directly for him and his team. "Make sure you're strapped in tight, boys and girls. Shit's about to get rough."
The next thirty seconds passed in a maelstrom of juking, deking, rocking, explosions, and almost constant shield updates from Tali. The barrel of both the Mako's main gun and machine cannon were glowing red hot from the barrage of fire Garrus was sending out, trying to tip the scales in their favor. Tali's hands were flying over the Mako's consoles, searching for any way to bolster the shields. Shepard was sweating in his suit, struggling to force the Mako to bob and weave for everything it was worth. And it wasn't enough.
"Shields at 10%!" Tali yelled.
"Fuck." Shepard cursed. He used the Mako's thrusters to jump over a geth siege pulse, but the armature's machine gun continued to hammer the Mako, as did the small arms fire from the four regular geth who still stood. Shepard had been unable to close the distance enough to use the Mako as a battering ram, focusing instead on trying to avoid as much of the heavy weapons fire as possible.
The Mako hit the ground and lurched forward, heading for the curved edge of the skyway. At the same time, the armature raised itself to launch another siege pulse.
"We've lost shields, Shepard!" Tali's voice was hysterical, and her words made the bottom drop out of Shepard's stomach. "We can't take another hit from that geth!"
"Everything's overheated, Commander!" Garrus shouted, desperately pulling the triggers. "I can't take it down!"
The armature's shot was going to broadside the Mako, and Shepard was out of options. He took in the scene and analyzed the situation, as time seemed to slow around him. We only have one option. If I try to jump that shot, we're going over the edge. If that thing hits us, we die. If I fuck up this maneuver, we die. Stupidest fucking thing I've ever tried, but it's our only shot. Decision made, Shepard slammed the accelerator again, driving hard for the nothingness that lay beyond the skyway.
"Incoming!" Garrus yelled as the armature fired.
"Look out!" Tali yelled as the Mako careened towards the edge of the skyway.
"Hold on!" Shepard yelled as the Mako caught the lip of the skyway and started to go up and over the edge.
Tali's heart stopped as she looked down into the clouds below. Ancestors, please don't let it hurt. I'll be with you soon, Mother. Good bye, Father.
Garrus, for his part, was unaware of where the Mako was pointing. As a result, he wasn't in fear of the impending long drop followed by a sudden stop. He was more concerned with the blue, crackling siege pulse that was about to hit them, and destroy the Mako and its cargo. I'm sorry I wasn't the man you wanted me to be, Father. May the Spirits watch over you, Mother, and Solana.
Come on baby, give me every bit of boost you've got. Right . . . now! Shepard put everything he had into hitting the thrusters. The Mako took to the air like a swallow, rolling over in midair as the geth pulse passed harmlessly below them. As the wheels started to come back under the vehicle, Shepard quickly eyeballed the landing spot.
Oh you've gotta be kidding. Are we really gonna land on the fucking armature? Fuckity fuck fuck.
The Mako crashed down onto the armature with a crunch, rocking up and down on its suspension. Before the vehicle could come to a rest, Shepard slammed the accelerator again. The Mako's wheels spun wildly, searching for purchase on the slick carapace of the geth. The armature started to struggle back to its feet, tilting the Mako towards the ground. As soon as the Mako's front wheels hit the concrete, the Mako jerked forward, mobile again. Shepard instantly slewed the wheel all the way to the left, forcing the Mako into a vicious 90-degree turn.
The Mako jumped forward like a slapped horse, quickly reaching the four remaining regular geth, who had started to turn to re-engage the vehicle. But before they could fire a single round, the full weight of the Mako slammed into them, sending them flying up and out, into the vast empty air of Feros. At the same moment, Shepard simultaneously activated both the brake and emergency brake, prayed the brakes would stop the vehicle, and shouted at Garrus. "Shoot that motherfucker!"
Garrus didn't reply verbally, instead choosing to line up the armature in his crosshairs and pull both triggers, ending the threat for good.
Inside the Mako, all was quiet except for the creaking of the suspension and the clunk as another round was loaded in the main cannon. Suddenly, Shepard started laughing as the insanity of what they had just done set in. The other two joined him, Tali holding her belly and gasping for breath, while Garrus's head, shoulders, and mandibles were all shaking with his laughter. After a long minute, they finally quieted down.
"You're insane, do you know that Commander?" Tali asked exasperatedly.
"More importantly, how did you do that?" Garrus demanded. "How did you make a Mako fly?"
"Well, it was easy." Shepard said with fake modesty. "I just aimed at the edge of the skyway, hit the gas, then popped the thrusters when we were at an angle. Boom, barrel roll."
"But how did manage to aim for the geth?" Garrus still couldn't believe they had managed to crush the armature, keeping it from firing another siege pulse at them while the main gun cooled.
"Well, ya see, I analyzed the angle of the curve on the skyway and checked the internal gyrometer to determine our rate of spin while measuring the distance to-"
"Bullshit." Tali interrupted him. Now that she knew they were safe, her relief at being alive was starting to give way to anger at Shepard's insane maneuvering. "You're lying, and there is no way you could have known you would land on the geth."
"Why Miss Zorah, are you doubting your Commander?" Shepard said, feigning surprise. Actually, I am surprised. I didn't expect her to swear quite so readily. She seems so, sorta, young, and innocent. I guess maybe she's not quite as innocent as I thought.
"No, I'm not doubting you, Commander. I'm telling you that there is no way you were aiming for the geth."
"Ouch, Tali, that hurts. Even if you are right. Shouldn't you be happy we're alive?" A frown crossed Shepard's face.
"I am happy we're alive. But we shouldn't have been that close to dying! Trying to jump over a siege pulse is absolutely insane!"
Ya know, I'm starting to get really annoyed with women shouting at me. First Beth, now Tali. No, wait, I'm not starting to get annoyed, I'm just annoyed. Full stop. And I'm about at my limit for getting yelled at by women, no matter how pretty they may be. "Fine." He spoke again, turning the Mako for the doorway and accelerating. "I'll keep your poor opinion of my ability to keep you safe in mind next time I'm picking a ground team. I'm sure Wrex won't mind a little danger."
Garrus wisely decided to remain silent, while Tali tried to stammer out an apology. "Shepard . . . I . . . But . . ." She trailed off when Shepard didn't look at her. Maybe I did overreact a little, but I didn't mean that. I still want to go out on missions with him, but even he has to admit that what he tried was crazy. Right? We almost fell to our deaths. He can't think that's a good thing, can he?
Finally, they made it back on-board the Normandy. After waiting through the decontamination cycle, Shepard gestured for the Garrus and Tali to leave him with Joker.
"Garrus. Have Ashley, Kaidan, and Wrex meet us in the comm room. I want to have a debriefing session with the whole team."
"Yessir." Garrus gave him a quick salute and headed for the comm room. I can tell he's still upset. He hasn't spoken to Tali other than to direct her tech attacks since she yelled at him in the Mako. I should get the team together, and quickly. I don't want to give him another reason to reprimand me. Then, after the debrief, I'll go talk to him and ask him how he is going to handle my insubordination. I really hope he doesn't drop me back at the Citadel. I want to help him catch Saren more than I've ever wanted anything before in my life. I wonder what Father would say about that? Probably that it is yet another indicator of my lack of discipline. Or maybe that I'm being a bad turian because a good turian keeps his head down and does his duty, doesn't go off in pursuit of glory. Why can't he understand that it is my duty to help stop a traitor to our race? If I don't do it, who will? Deep in thought, he didn't notice Tali slinking along beside him, her head hung low.
"Joker. Ready to get out of here?"
"Aw, why do we have to leave, Commander? I was really starting to like it here. It has everything: a plant that can control your mind, zombie people, and a corporation that thinks its profits are more important than its people. I was hoping we could join the colony." Joker rolled his eyes.
"Well Joker, it used to have a mind-controlling plant, but I killed it. And I don't think the plant woulda posed much of a threat to you anyway." Shepard's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"You wound me, Commander." Joker said, clutching his chest. "Was there a reason you wanted to talk to me that didn't involve hurting my feelings?"
"Yes." Shepard nodded his head as he spoke. "Get us to the Artemis Tau Cluster, ASAP. My gut tells me I shouldn't have spent so much time helping out the colony."
"For what it's worth, Commander, I think you did the right thing." Joker was momentarily serious. "Those people had it rough, and there's no telling what would have happened if you hadn't shown up. And if you don't mind me asking, if you wanted to hurry and get to finding the Thorian so we could get off this planet, why did you take the time to knock the colonists out? Wouldn't it have been faster to kill them?"
"It would have been." Shepard acknowledged with a look down at his pilot. "But I couldn't kill innocent people. Their only crime was colonizing a world run by a bunch of ruthless bastards."
"I'm glad, Commander." Joker agreed, before his normal personality returned. "And I bet the ExoGeni people just hate you for killing the Thorian. Probably cost them a shit ton of money." Pausing, Joker cracks a wide grin. "Plus, you got to mindmeld with a smokin' hot asari. That alone should make this place worthwhile."
"You're probably right about the ExoGeni thing, Joker." The Commander said, mirth momentarily lighting up in his eyes. "But as for the asari, it wasn't sexy at all. Wasn't even fun. She was kinda slimy from being inside, like, a Thorian pus pod. And the mindmeld was a pain in the ass. Or should I say brain." He cracked a grin that failed to reach his eyes this time. "Getting the history of an entire species crammed into your brain is not fun. I felt like I was gonna pass out for a while. I'm just now getting my sense of equilibrium back."
"Huh. Maybe she's just better at it than you? Does that happen often, Commander?" Joker's eyes glinted with juvenile joy.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells, Helmsman." Shepard responded, trying to put some malice into his voice, but failing. My heart's just not in it today. I'm too tired, and it was a good dig. Point to Joker, this time. "After the debriefing, set me up with a comm link to the Council. Then once we jump, gimme an ETA to Artemis Tau and a two-hour warning. Thanks."
"Sounded like a yes to me." Joker mumbled to himself after the Commander had walked away.