Chapter 51
Garrus and Tali followed Shepard back to the elevator. After a few seconds of tension so thick she could practically taste it through her air filters, Tali broke the silence.
"I feel bad for the protheans. They lost everything, just like my people. Even if their final plan had worked, there was nothing for them to actually save. Their whole race was already either subjugated or destroyed."
"And so it falls to us, to succeed where the protheans could not." Garrus chimed in, squaring his shoulders and preparing for the burden of saving the galaxy, as a good turian should.
"Yeah." Spike agreed, without elaborating. The trio was once again silent as they climbed into the Mako.
"If you agree, then why were you so angry with Vigil?" Tali asked, looking over at Shepard as they set off.
"I never said I had a problem with the protheans. If it came across that way, it wasn't intentional. I was just pissed off at the freaking V.I. If it's been watching us, which we know it has, then it knows we're already trying to make up some ground on Saren. Intentionally making us detour down to his lair so he could give us some data and an explanation of why this facility exists just didn't strike me as the most effective use of our time. If it wanted us to catch Saren and stop him from bringing about the apocalypse, it should have done something to make us go faster, not slower."
The other two occupants of the cabin digested his words. "That may be so, Commander." Garrus said. "But isn't there a human expression regarding learning from history or being doomed to repeat it? Perhaps Vigil was just trying to tell us what didn't work, so we wouldn't waste our time."
"That's a good point. Next time I run into a millennia-old V.I., I'll try to keep that in mind." Shepard's light humor fully broke the remaining tension, and drew chuckles from his companions. "Well, now that we're all done being angsty,"
Whatever Shepard was about to say was interrupted by Tali. "I think we should focus on killing geth! Six contacts directly ahead!"
What are the odds that she'd finish my sentence the same way I was going to? If I were a more superstitious person, I'd probably think that that was some sorta sign from above that we're meant to be together. Too bad I'm not delusional enough to believe that. Not that I'd mind knowing I'm supposed to be with Tali for the rest of my life, it'd probably be pretty nice. I could certainly do worse as far as life-mates go, at any rate. Of course, it could all be a cosmic joke and I am supposed to be with Tali for the rest of my life, and then my life's gonna end right after we kill Saren. But what are the odds of that happening, right?
While Shepard's mind was whirling on thoughts of his potential future with the beautiful quarian to his left, his body was directing the Mako in yet another symphony of avoidance. Said symphony ended with a rather satisfying crunch as the final two geth rocket troopers were sent flying at high speed into a nearby wall, courtesy of being struck by the Mako's not-insignificant kinetic energy.
"Only four, Garrus? Who's getting slow now, ya old fogie?" Shepard taunted as he slalomed the Mako around a corner.
"That's still double your count from that engagement, Commander." The turian replied, grinning slightly.
Ahead of the Mako, the hallway suddenly turned 90 degrees to the left. Shepard took the turn without slowing.
"Is it just me, or do we appear to be driving directly for the edge of a cliff?" Garrus asked, noticing that the Mako was not showing any signs of decelerating.
"It's not just you!" Tali said with some urgency. "Shepard! Are you planning on stopping before we go over the edge?"
"Nope!" Shepard said back gleefully. Moments later, the Mako shot out into open air, and gravity quickly took hold. The vehicle plummeted to the ground, covering the 30 feet of empty space in a stretch of time that was both incredibly slow (from inside the IFV) and yet surprisingly quickly (from outside). The Mako landed heavily, compressing its suspension and peeling away before the ride height had even returned to normal.
"One of these days, Commander, your predilection for jumping without looking is going to land you in serious trouble." Garrus remarked with a shake of his head.
"Probably." Shepard acknowledged. "But until then, it's my go-to move. Speaking of moving, I feel like we're getting pretty close to the Conduit; so we won't be stopping for anything."
Twin nods of the head showed that the two dextros agreed with him. Spike then put words into action, as he jumped the Mako over a large barricade made of fallen masonry. "You think that was accidental, or intentional?" He asked his teammates.
"Intentional." They replied in unison.
"Thought so too." He answered back. "Hey Tali, you think you can hack the Mako and maybe get set up to reroute some power?"
"Probably." She responded, activating her omni-tool and diving into the vehicle's software. "Where am I taking the power away from, and where would you like it?"
"First place is to deactivate the coaxial machine gun."
"What?!" Garrus asked in shock.
"Whaddaya mean, 'what?'" Shepard shot back. "We're running through any geth obstacles we encounter, not fighting them. You can still feel free to blow stuff up with the main gun, I just don't see any reason to have the MG going as well. Any advantage it may offer in terms of offense would be smaller than the potential gains we get from having a boost to our shields or mobility. And that answers the second part of your question, Tali. Divert the extra power towards the drivetrain until you need it for shields, then switch it up."
"I'm on it, Shepard." She answered, setting about writing a down-and-dirty program to do just that. "Are there any other outputs you'd like me to re-direct?"
"Anything you can think of that won't impede my steering, my accelerator, or Garrus's big cannon. If you break something beyond repair, don't worry about it. I'll make Udina buy us a new Mako after we're finished with Saren."
"I can do that." Tali giggled as she thought of Shepard presenting the human ambassador with a bill for a new infantry fighting vehicle.
"Beautiful."
The inside of the Mako once again went quiet, this time because of anticipation rather than unease. A short time later, Shepard turned a corner and was suddenly confronted with a half-dozen bipedal geth, being supported by colossus.
"Fuck!" Spike exclaimed, aiming the nose of the Mako at the colossus's right side.
At the same time, Garrus scanned the targets and spotted two geth rocket troopers that were standing just a little too close together. He put his first shot right between the two, disintegrating their metal bodies. That would be his only shot of this fight, as before the Mako's cannon could reload Shepard had smashed through the colossus and sped around a corner.
"Tali! Why didn't you tell us there were geth ahead?" The turian demanded.
"Because I didn't know." The quarian responded tonelessly, without looking up from her console.
"Why not?" Garrus asked again, wary of the lack of emotion in Tali's initial response.
"Because Shepard told me to take power from anything except driving, shooting, and shielding. The external sensors were just one of those things. Our collection of communication equipment is also just so much scrap, as is the anti-lock braking system, internal inertial dampeners, and a host of other things. Do you have a problem with that?"
Tali's last question was delivered in such a frigid tone of voice that Garrus was suddenly wishing that the Mako's heater could be turned up. Although I'm certain that Tali has already stolen the power from the HVAC systems. And I'm equally certain that Shepard would never let me forget that Tali had frightened me so much that I wanted some extra heat for comfort. No, it is altogether best to say nothing more; at least until we're out of the Mako and I don't have to worry about her "accidentally forgetting" that the main gun is supposed to stay fully powered. I could easily see her taking away my ability to rotate the turret, or reducing my reload speed, or something equally depressing if I upset her. "No, Tali."
Shepard could hear the submission in Garrus's voice, and smiled at the thought of the potential for ribbing that gave him later. "Yeah, great job Tal. If Garrus gives you any more lip, feel free to start siphoning off some power from his targeting systems. I'm sure that will fix his attitude."
The smirk that could clearly be heard in the commander's voice made Garrus shudder as he contemplated firing blind. "There's no need for that, Commander. I applaud Tali's initiative and inventiveness."
"Thought you would." Shepard said as Tali smiled smugly under her helmet.
Another colossus, this time being guarded by four rocket troopers, appeared out of the haze at the end of their current trench. "Another colossus!" Garrus called out needlessly.
"Got it!" Shepard said as he swerved the Mako around the incoming siege pulse, before juking the vehicle back in order to avoid a pair of rockets.
Garrus fired the Mako's main cannon, eliminating two of the rocketeers. By the time the gun had reloaded, Shepard had closed the distance to the geth to less than 10 meters. As the commander took yet another corner nearly on three wheels, Garrus was able to take out one more of the rocket troopers. Shortly thereafter, the geth were once again out of practical range.
"Nice job driving, Shepard." Tali complimented the commander. "They haven't landed a single substantial shot on our shields since we jumped off of that cliff."
"I do what I can." He responded with mock sincerity.
"Well, keep it up." She shot back.
Around another set of corners, the team from the Normandy found another colossus, this time being guarded by a geth prime and a set of four geth destroyers, supplemented with a pair of rocket troopers.
"Ugh. Another colossus?" Shepard moaned as he jumped a siege pulse. "Was there a sale on these things at 'geth-mart' or something?"
"I sincerely hope so." Garrus answered as he blew up a pair of geth destroyers. "But on a more positive note, there can't be that many left between us and the Conduit now, right?"
"I have a feeling that's pretty wishful thinking, buddy." Shepard said morosely.
"Me too." Tali chimed in.
"Damn." Garrus cursed under his breath. "Well, it never hurts to be positive."
"One can only hope." Shepard commented as they once again left the dug-in defenses behind. We've got to be nearly at the end now. He mused to himself. I hope Joker was able to get back to the Fifth, and convince them to listen to him. At least Hackett's a decent bloke; I can only imagine what a shit storm Joker'd be facing if the Admiral was anything like Udina. Even then, I may have gotten the better end of the deal. I just have to kill geth; Joker's gotta try to convince the head of one of humanity's major means of projecting power that even though I stole the Normandy, I'm not a crazed lunatic out for a joyride. If Saren's lead is as big as I think it is, we're gonna need the Fifth Fleet to show up swinging. Further thoughts about the situation elsewhere disappeared as the Mako turned a corner and came face to face with a long, downward-sloping ravine that terminated at a large plain. "Oh fuck."
"Look at the Conduit! Keelah, it's incredible!" Tali breathed out.
"I'm more concerned with the eight geth colossuses standing in front of it." Garrus responded.
"'There can't be that many left,' eh Garrus?" Shepard said with a grim smile as he milked the Mako for every kph he could. "There's no way I'll be able to avoid that many siege pulses at once. Garrus, you're not gonna like it, but; Tali - go ahead and take everything you can from the main gun and shunt it to shields."
"Will do, Shepard."
The commander dodged three-quarters of the siege pulses, but was still hit by two of them. Ignoring the flaring of the shields, Shepard slalomed wildly between the geth, avoiding anything that might slow down the Mako. Another three siege pulses struck the commandos by the time they were halfway across the otherwise-idyllic prairie. By that time, Shepard had stopped weaving and was driving the Mako straight for the Conduit. When the vehicle shuddered under two more hammer blows, though, he realized that they could be in trouble.
Tali quickly confirmed his fears. "Shields at 30%!"
"Shit!" Shepard thought quickly. "I don't need steering, and divert everything from the thrusters except for enough juice for one jump. Beyond that - pray."
Tali's fingers danced feverishly over her omni-tool. Another siege pulse struck the Mako, negating her hard work. A second later, the Mako was hit again. "20% shields!" She updated the two men.
As the Mako began climbing the ramp that would lead to the Conduit, Garrus was struck by a sudden thought. "Is it even possible to take the Mako through a mass relay?"
"No idea." Shepard said calmly, internally wincing as the controls shuddered beneath his hands as the Mako was hit yet again.
"10%!" Tali called out, praying that the Mako would make it.
Shepard's eyes were glued to two displays: the distance to the edge of the platform, and the siege pulse rapidly approaching from the rear. His finger tensed as he prepared to trigger the Mako's thrusters for what could be the last time. A mantra of Not yet, not yet, not yet, was running through his head as he waited for the opportune moment. Tali and Garrus watched and waited breathlessly, wondering when Shepard would propel them upwards and into the Conduit. Finally, the Mako's front wheels parted company with the ground, and the siege pulse was what felt like centimeters away from striking the rear wheels.
At just that moment, Spike activated the thrusters and the Mako started rising through the air. Since only the rear four thrusters were pushing against a solid surface, the vehicle started tilting forward while it began its ascent. This forward spin bought the team just enough time so that the Mako was just able to clear the top of the siege pulse. The next heartbeat, the Conduit activated and grabbed the still-rotating IFV. A millisecond later, the trio felt like they were being electrocuted, then frozen, and finally compressed. In a small act of kindness, their minds shut down to avoid the conflicting signals, and Tali, Garrus, and Shepard fell into unconsciousness.