The Normandy was buzzing, the crew's night off had proven popular and now all the service men and women were back at their posts. Just waiting for Shepard to give them their next orders. They all knew he was waiting for Feral to be cleared for service but at the rate the man bounced back from things. Everyone knew that'd be heading off to their next destination soon, Virmire.
All of Shepard's team, save Wrex, were at the mess hall table eating breakfast. They'd asked Liara how Feral had looked as she had walked out but she said the man was completely covered in his blanket while he slept. She couldn't see anything but Chakwas seemed pleased, apparently while Feral had been sleeping he had been moving a lot more naturally and his stiffness was fading fast. They all smiled at that, they still couldn't believe a living being could walk away from wounds like that after a single day. Feral definitely lived up to the term 'super soldier'.
Tali was feeling mixed emotions though; she was happy to hear Feral would be up and about soon but she was panicking as she realised that he'd be up and about. She didn't want to avoid him but she still had no idea what to say to him. She was sitting at the table in silence as everyone talked around her, she was facing the med bay so she'd see Feral when he finally came out. Maybe she'd know what to say then.
As if on cue the med bay door's opened and Feral stepped out, he was looking back and she could see the man smile back at the doctor. Chakwas had obviously warned Feral that he was not to be back in her med bay, she always told that to people when they left. Most people were so scared of the woman they never got wounded again, but Feral had just laughed at the threat.
Tali's mind went crazy, seeing him hadn't helped at all. 'Crap, ok ok ok. Don't say anything now, just act normally and Keelah his eyes….' she sighed '…..oh forget this' She suddenly sat up from the table "Excuse me, I need to get back to the engine room" bolting out of the room as fast as she could and into the elevator. She was so grateful for her suit right now as she fidgeted nervously in the elevator, hoping Feral wouldn't follow her in. She sighed sadly when the doors finally shut, she had no idea how she was going to face him anytime soon.
Feral just watched the small quarian bolt across the room, he wondered if she was ok because she was running pretty quickly. He was about to follow her but another voice had caught his attention.
"Hey Feral, good to see you moving around again" Garrus called over, the rest of the table had turned around at his words. Feral just smiled back and stepped towards the group, "You look pretty good for a guy that got blown up yesterday" he clicked playfully
"Shut up before you make me blush Garrus" Feral smirked at the turian "Well at least I'll never be as ugly as you"
Garrus snickered "Hah, very funny. I'll have you know that for a turian I'm considered quite a catch" Feral along with Kaidan and Ashley just raised their eyebrows at him. "….What?" the three humans just started laughing as Garrus looked at them blankly.
Kaidan finally spoke up again as the three of them laughed "Anyway, has the doc cleared you Feral?" he looked back at him and waited for him to recompose himself.
Feral just stretched his arms out as he smiling "Yep I'm all good to go, all the bones and cuts have fixed themselves" he bounced gently on the spot "I'd do cartwheels to prove it to you even more but…well I can't do cartwheels." He just finished as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Ashley just laughed even more at the thought of the man trying and failing to do any sort of gymnastics. "Well you could try anyway, what's the worst that could happen?" she snickered, this was her pay back. The man would end up doing a cartwheel if it killed her.
Feral just stared back at her as he tried to stammer out a response "erm….I'd love to Ash but…." He heard a noise come from the other side of the room and Shepard stepped out into the mess hall 'Oh thank Christ for you' "Shepard!" Feral called out across the room, noting the scowl on Ashley's face before he just stuck his tongue out at the woman, quickly standing back normally as Shepard turned to him.
Shepard's head jolted up across the room at the sound of his name being called, Feral was standing there and just gave a small wave before he walked up behind Kaidan and Garrus who were trying not to laugh at Ashley's angry face.
"So you all ready to go again?" Shepard asked Feral, he still couldn't really believe that he was looking so well again. It'd only been about 12 hours since he'd been a bloody mess in Flux. Feral just nodded and smirked up at the commander "Good, go and get ready then. I need to tell Joker to get us moving"
Feral just looked confused "We have a heading?" he obviously had been kept out of the loop while he was out.
Shepard just nodded "Salarian STG team on Virmire went missing investigated one of Saren's bases and we're going to get them"
Shepard started going off towards the cockpit, Joker would be there waiting for the word. He saw Feral grin happily at the news as he walked off.
"Aye aye Commander" Feral was itching for a fight, cracking his knuckles before he and the rest of the squad at the table moved to the elevator. They were about to hit Saren hard, straight where it was going to hurt.
- Planet Virmire-
The Normandy was approaching the planet, Shepard's entire squad had spent the trip preparing for the fight to come. Checking weapons and armour were all to the task at hand, this was going to be one hell of a fight if a Salarian STG team were having issues.
Feral had fitted all of his armour back on and spent time readjusting his shields; Shepard had given him a new omni-tool after his had been destroyed in Flux. It didn't take long for the technician to remove all the crap out of the software and its runtimes were significantly improved. His knife had been sharpened and his weapons were ready to go, Ashley had seen to that. He'd even put his recon hood on, this was going to be a fast and heavy mission. Even if it didn't offer as much protection as a full helmet it was better than just his skull.
The entire team was sitting in the lower deck, just waiting for the landing. The tension was starting to get to them all and especially the soldiers of the group were itching to get into battle. Liara and Tali were looking forward to the fight, but they didn't quite share the same adrenaline rush as the rest of the team. Though for Tali, getting a few shotgun rounds into the Geth would help get her mind off things….off Feral.
Feral had noticed Tali was avoiding him, and as he sat by one of the terminals with Kaidan his eyes did dart across the quarian. He knew it was about the night before but now wasn't the time. They were going into a combat zone and they'd have time after the mission to talk. Suddenly Joker's voice rang out over the intercom.
"We're approaching Virmire Commander, I'm picking up a signal from the surface. It must be our STG team"
Kaidan pointed at the terminal next to him "Yh but look at those AA towers. We can't land with those things up and running"
Shepard hit the intercom to reply to Joker "We'll drop in the mako and take out the towers, Joker you wait until we give the word and then land as close to the Salarians as you can"
"Aye aye commander, I'll drop you in under the radar. ETA 10 minutes" the intercom buzzed out as Shepard turned towards the entire squad, grabbing his rifle and shotgun before stepping back towards the Mako.
"Feral, Kaidan and Tali. Grab your gear and mount up" Shepard ordered before he hit the door to the Mako "Everyone else, get your gear sorted and be ready for when the Normandy lands."
"Good hunting Shepard" Ashley called over as the squad he picked filed into the tank. Feral climbed up into the gunnery position and Tali and Kaidan locked themselves into the seats.
"Try not to get killed" Wrex added before laughing, Shepard rolled his eyes as he stepped in.
Shepard laughed "Thanks Wrex, I'll try to remember that" pulling the hatch closed as he climbed past Tali and Kaidan and into the driver's seat. Pulling the straps in place across his body as he waited for the Mako to go flying out of the Normandy's cargo door. Luckily for him, the tanks VI would take care of the initial landing.
"Everybody ready?" Shepard looked back over his shoulder, smiling at the resounding yeses.
"Let's go kick Saren where it hurts Shepard" Tali said, causing the rest of the team to snicker.
"Remind me never to make you angry Tali" Feral called down from the gunnery seat, Kaidan and Shepard quietly agreed.
'As if you ever could' Tali quietly thought as suddenly the entire Mako shook and the team braced themselves. Light pouring through the Mako's window screen and into the tank, Feral whooping as they were launched onto Virmire's surface before the tank hit the water hard, the suspension absorbing most of the impact but the occupants still got bounced around a little.
Joker's voice came through the radio in the tank as everyone inside groaned slightly, readjusting themselves in their seats at the harsh landing. "That's a clean drop commander; I'll stay out of range until the guns are done. Joker out"
Shepard cracked his neck as he took control over the mako, the VI landing program having run its course had turned itself off. "Feral be ready with the gun. Tali and Kaidan, keep an eye on the shields and fix anything you can as we go" The squad didn't respond the simply moved and did exactly what they were told. Shepard could hear the terminals that monitored shield strength and armour being moved in the rear compartment and the sound of the machine gun's whirring into life, ready to destroy anything that it was aimed at.
"Alright then, let's take out those guns" Shepard stated as he pushed the mako forward, the terrain was flat for once. That meant Feral could have easy shots and neither Tali nor Kaidan would be nearly throwing up from rolling down a cliff face, that being said there was an edge that lead to the ocean below 'Better steer clear of that'.
The mako was rolling along nicely, they hadn't run into anything yet except a few crap like machines. They hadn't been Geth; Feral had confirmed it himself with the telescopic sight the guns provided. Tali had giggled when he'd ask to take some practice shots anyway, no matter the situation Feral could usually find time to make her smile.
"Uh Shepard, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Feral called from the gunnery position
"Yes I do Feral, guys hold on" the Mako suddenly lurched to the side as the hydraulics controlling the turret's direction whined into life, followed by the loud repeated thumping of the machine gun. Tali and Kaidan turned to their screens, hitting buttons to redirect power to the shields as necessary. They could hear the rattling of bullets bouncing on the kinetic barriers.
Feral concentrated on the most dangerous Geth platforms first; the larger ones were always the biggest threat. Geth troopers weren't that much of a problem if they were close, Shepard just ran the little things over. He just kept his fingers on the triggers, using the rapid fire weapon to destroy troopers and removing the shields on the more powerful platforms and war machines. The missile launcher was then good option and he had to admit, watching the synthetics explode into tiny pieces of metal and white goo always made me smile. Both Tali and Kaidan could've sworn they could hear him giggling slightly during the lulls in fire.
Feral just kept firing until eventually a structure came into view, a large group of the Geth standing together in a big group. One missile later and the group was gone. He started picking off any other platform he could see until they retreated deeper into the gatehouse. The mako came to a sharp halt in front of the gate, under the lip of the building.
"Ok everyone out, we'll head up and get this gate open on foot" Shepard called back to his team, the entire squad unbuckling themselves as fast as they could. Tali and Kaidan folding their terminals away before Kaidan punched the hatch open. Tali and Shepard quickly bolting out of the door as Kaidan followed, splashing down into the water. The three working their way to the stairs and making sure nothing was coming down. A moment later Feral caught up to them all.
"Ok Feral you go first, then Tali, then me and Kaidan you follow up from the rear. Feral, Tali use your tech skills to your advantage. Kaidan if you can hit them with biotics. Other than that…shoot anything with a light for a head." Everyone just nodded at the commander as Feral took the lead, slowly making his way up the stairs.
He slowly took the stairs step by step, his rifles raised as he peaked over the top of the stairway. Immediately firing at the Geth platforms in front of him before charging forward into the cover provided by the midsection. Tali quickly joined him, kneeling down in front of him as they both turned around the cover to throw out overloads and quick shots at the Geth. Shepard and Kaidan had stayed on the stairwell, using the stairs as cover while peeking up and taking shots at the platforms.
The fire fight was going their way, the Geth platforms couldn't handle the combined effects of overloads hitting their systems and the heavy amounts of gunfire. Then a problem appeared from the control room of the gatehouse, a Juggernaut. He was about to shout at the squad to hit it with everything they had. Feral and Tali would knock out its shields, Kaidan's throws would keep it from charging and then combined fire would put it down for good. But before he even had a chance he noticed Feral had gone.
The Juggernaut charged towards the group 'Where the fuck did he go?' Shepard shouted inside his head, the team needed to get behind whatever they could. The juggernaut had reached the point where the two sides of the building joined again. Then suddenly Feral reappeared. Feral had launched himself sprinting into the side of the giant platform, his speed and strength overcoming the momentum of the juggernaut. Both Feral and the platform went over the edge of the building, the orange pulse of an overload surrounding the two as they disappeared out of sight, before a loud splash was heard.
The three of them just stared at each before they all rushed forward, standing at the dip in the gatehouses buttress guards. "Oh for the love of…Feral!" Shepard called down at the man, who was standing on top of the Juggernaut. He looked back up, the red lenses of his recon hood staring back at the commander, it was obvious that he was smiling.
"What?" he just shrugged "It seemed easier….and more fun" he laughed as he threw away the central processing core out of his hands. He'd torn it out of the platform and half way up his forearm was covered in synthetic blood.
"Just give me a heads up next time?" Shepard groaned, rubbing his forehead. Gesturing for Tali and Kaidan to go on ahead and open the gate. He wondered if Tali had known Feral's idea as she trotted off with the biotic to open the gate and take down the gun. "Go and wait for us in the mako Feral" he finally sighed out, Feral had killed the thing quickly and he couldn't argue with that.
Feral gave Shepard his lazy two fingered salute before realising he'd just smeared geth blood all over his recon hood. "Ahh…fuck it" he snarled as he washed his hand in the water as he walked off to the mako.
Shutting down the gun had been easy with Tali there, the Geth programming was easily overridden by the quarian. Kaidan had gotten the gates open and the three were rushing back to the mako, where Feral had waiting already up in his gunnery position. His recon hood was hanging on one of the steps up to the position, he'd washed it off in the water. He simply grinned at the three as they piled in, Kaidan pulling the hatch shut. Tali just glared up at him, she wished she had warned him about his idea although…it had been pretty awesome to watch, and his smile. She damned his smile as she couldn't help but crack a grin as the mako started moving again.
Eventually the mako rolled into the second gate house, the resistance had scurried back into the structure. But right now a few geth platforms were a joy. Armatures and Colossi had been between the first and second structure, and Feral was panting slightly from how much he'd had to hold the trigger down. He sat in the position shaking his hand slightly before he reached down and grabbed his recon hood, sighing as it was still slightly wet before pulling it back on.
The second gate house had been exactly the same as the first, except Shepard given Feral explicit instructions not to take a dive with a Geth as his partner this time. Feral was going to laugh but Tali had stopped him by cocking her shotgun whilst she glared at him again, he wasn't going to argue with the shotgun toting woman. This time the team moved fast and methodically, overloads and biotic throws kept the Geth at bay whilst quick and accurate rifle and shotgun fire destroyed the machines quickly.
Feral had still managed to get his hands on one of the geth though; a hopper had been bouncing around the gate house before Kaidan had managed to hit it with a warp. Feral had grabbed the annoying bugger whilst it was down, crushing the small machines head before throwing it to one side.
Shepard told Feral to get back to the mako, he wanted the man back on the gun as fast as possible just so they could move immediately once Shepard and the rest of the team were back. He groaned again as Feral opted to take the fast route, jumping down from the raised building. 'Bloody metal implants' he sighed as he waited for Tali and Kaidan to be finished.
As soon as Shepard got back into the mako, he radioed Joker "The AA guns are down, you can make your move to the Salarian camp now." He received a conformation and then the tank pressed on ahead. Shepard chuckling as he heard Feral mutter something about seeing more armatures before looking up as the Normandy flew over them.
"Alright then, let's go Shepard. I'd hate for the party to start without us" Feral just called down and Shepard responded by making the man jolt back into his seat as he suddenly put his foot to the floor. A few rocket drones, and unfortunately for Feral, a single colossus later they had reached another gatehouse. Though this time Feral told them to stay but, the building was lacking buttresses and he opened fire, tearing down the platforms from a distance.
The team moved quickly along the building, putting a few rounds into the head of some still barely functioning Geth. Feral had taken out all of the synthetics before they had managed to take any sort of cover, and as he sat waiting in the Mako. Tali made quick work of the gate and the team was moving on again without any further interference until Joker's voice came out through the intercom again.
"Err Commander we have a small problem. The Normandy is grounded for now, the Salarian captain can explain it to you when you get here" Joker sounded annoyed, he hated getting grounded especially when his 'baby' wasn't in a proper dock. The entire mako groaned, the last thing they needed was a problem. Feral voiced the group's feelings by beating his head into one of the panels in his gunnery position. Luckily for them, they caught a small break in that there was nothing between them and the Salarian camp.
The mako team was trudging their way through the water, Feral was carrying Tali bridal style in his arms. She'd fallen over into the water and before she'd even had a chance to struggle back up to her feet, she'd been hoisted up into his arms. Tali couldn't speak the entire way as Feral carried her, she was just blushing wildly as she felt his strength lift her without even trying and she was pressed up against the very same chest she'd been caught staring at.
She was just thankful it was a short walk, Feral put her down the moment his feet touched the sand. She'd quickly blurted out a thank you before walking away into one of the many Salarian 'tents', leaving Feral standing there watching her. He sighed before he trudged off towards Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley, they were talking with the Salarian captain, he'd have to try to get through to Tali again later. He managed to catch the Salarian introducing himself.
"I'm Captain Kirrahe, 3rd infiltration regiment, STG. You and your men have just landed in a hot zone, every AA gun left in the area is waiting for us to try and escape" the Salarian said. All 4 humans just groaned until Shepard spoke up.
"Wonderful, so what's the next step?" the commander asked
The salarian quickly replied "We wait for the reinforcements that we asked the council for. Then we attack the base and destroy Saren's operations"
Feral raised his hand and waved it slightly "We are the reinforcements, we're all you've got coming"
Shepard quickly added "The transmission we got from you was too messed up to understand properly, the council sent us to investigate"
The salarian captain sighed "Investigate. Investigating is all I've been doing. I lost half my men investigating this place" he started telling the commander as he guessed what the next question was "This place is Saren's base of operations, he has an army of Geth and it's incredibly well fortified. He's breeding an army of Krogan"
All 5 of the soldiers were surprised by the deep sound of Wrex suddenly beside them "How is that possible?"
"Apparently he's found a cure for the genophage. Commander we have to destroy this base and its secrets. An army of Krogan would be nearly unstoppable" Kirrahe finished, convinced it was the right thing.
"Oh I don't think so" Wrex growled out "My people are dying, we need that cure to survive" he stepped towards the Salarian.
"We can't risk letting the Krogan population explode, we cannot allow ourselves to make the same mistake again" the Salarian recoiled as a finger was thrust into his face.
"We…are not a mistake" Wrex snarled before walking off angrily.
The group was left in silence before the captain spoke again "Will he be a problem? We already have enough angry Krogan running around here. Please take care of him Shepard. I'll be in my tent thinking of our next step, come and see me when he's been dealt with" Kirrahe marched off into his tent, leaving the 4 humans behind.
Shepard sighed loudly 'Great….how the hell do get Wrex to calm down?" he turned towards Feral. "I'm going to go and talk to Wrex. Feral I want you close by, you're the only person here capable of subduing him. I'd rather not have someone die today" Feral just nodded and walked off, he'd be in an off location. Waiting to see if he was needed.
Feral watched the conversation between Shepard and Wrex, he could see it was heated. The Krogan was angry. 'Don't do anything stupid Wrex, please don't do anything stupid'. He then watched as Wrex drew his shotgun and aimed it straight at Shepard, he mentally screamed at himself. 'Me and my big freaking mouth!' That was it, he had to make a move. He had to be in position if the worst came to worst, he silently made his way around the back of the Krogan.
The conversation slowly got louder and louder as he moved closer and he could hear Shepard talking "Wrex this isn't a cure it's a weapon! Saren's using them to create an army, is that what you want for the krogan?" Feral stopped, those words had affected him too. He was exactly the same as the Krogan in that base, a weapon. The thought of an army of him scared the super soldier. He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head, he'd missed what Wrex had said but the krogan was putting his shotgun back.
Feral sighed loudly "Oh thank god for that" before he suddenly found a red fist flying at his head. Black and then sky, Shepard and Wrex were standing over him as he lay sprawled out on the sand. His recon hood had been taken off so Shepard could see when the man regained consciousness.
"What the hell just happened?" Feral groaned out, clutching his jaw and nose in his hands.
Shepard just laughed "I think you scared Wrex Feral"
Wrex growled at Shepard as he grabbed Feral and dragged him to his feet. "He didn't scare me Shepard, but he's a quiet bastard. It's only a natural response to attack something sneaking up behind you….for a krogan at least" he grinned at the glaring super soldier "Besides he's fine…just a broken nose" the krogan laughed as he walked away.
Shepard winced as Feral snapped his nose back in place, the cartilage moving straight back into the right position as Feral bit his lip. "Who would've thought Wrex could be jumpy?" he groaned loudly. Shepard just put his arm over his shoulder and helped Feral back towards the camp, patting his chest as he laughed. "Have you ever been punched in the head by a krogan Shepard?"
"Can't say I have…..yet" Shepard smirked
"Then stop laughing until you do because it fucking hurts" Feral growled loudly.
- 10 minutes later –
Shepard was talking to Kirrahe about their plan of attack, Kaidan and Ashley were offering their input into the plan. It was a pretty simple plan but pulling it off would be anything but that. There'd be two teams. The rest of the 3rd regiment, led by Kirrahe, would be the main assault force and Ashley would join them. The gunnery chief would act as the liaison between Kirrahe and Shepard's teams. Shepard's squad would be much smaller, a shadow team that would rush into the base while the salarians took the flak. They'd punch a hole in the bases defences, letting the salarians push further into the base as well. From there the two teams would take out the base's AA guns, this would let the Normandy drop off a nuclear bomb. The bomb would be guarded by Wrex, Kaidan and Liara who would wait on board the Normandy. Shadow squad would consist of Shepard himself, Tali, Garrus and Feral.
Garrus was a sniper; he was perfect for the infiltration because he could pick off targets from a distance. Plus he had some skill when it came to hacking, he wasn't as good as Tali or Feral but with the three of them combined they'd be causing the Geth some serious trouble.
Tali was an obvious choice, they were heading into a base filled to the brim with Geth. They all knew how to kill the things but as a quarian she was an expert on them. Plus her she had become extremely proficient with a shotgun, so much so that everyone on the Normandy was scared of her when she threatened to go and get it.
Feral was their heavy hitter, the man was a super soldier. They were going to be against Krogan and despite being knocked out by Wrex a minute ago, that had only been because Wrex had surprised him. Feral was probably going to have to take some hits for the squad, but Shepard knew he could handle it. A krogan charging was easy to spot and had nowhere near the same force as the bomb in Flux.
Shepard sighed, this was going to be tough. He was taking a very small team against a large amount of Geth and Krogan. He had faith in his squad and in Kirrahe's men. This mission was the most important one so far, if they didn't succeed they wouldn't be able to stop Saren's plan and the bastard would have Krogan with him.
Shepard called his squad around and explained the mission plan. They all listened intently, but he suspected Feral was keeping quiet just because he still had a small headache. Wrex was a little irritated that he couldn't take part in the assault, but when the commander said he'd be delivering a nuclear weapon the Krogan seemed a little happier.
They were as ready as they could ever be, and as they were moving out of the tent they were sitting in. Captain Kirrahe approached the commander "Is your team ready?" Shepard nodded to the salarian "Good, before we head out I'd like to say a few words to my men if that's ok with you"
"Of course captain, take all the time you need." Shepard smiled at the salarian, he could tell Kirrahe cared about the lives he was commanding. Good, that put his mind at ease knowing he was entrusting Ashley to him.
The captain nodded as he turned towards the rest of his men, many had died already and he would have to inspire them to get them behind the rest of the mission.
"You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life, but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way." Kirrahe paced back and forth in front of his men, his words strong and brave.
"Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet." He stood and faced his men, his speech coming to an end
"Before diplomacy, there were soldiers! Our influence stopped the Rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"
Kirrahe finished, any doubt in his men had vanished. The speech had been inspiring and they were all ready for the task. Feral even commented at the back of Shepard's group that it sounded like something his old Captain used to say and that 'these guys must take lessons'. The commander had rolled his eyes at that but he still smiled slightly before Kirrahe turned back towards him.
"Thank you for that Commander, my men and I are ready to go" he nodded forcefully.
"All right then" Shepard looked back at his team, they were raring to go as well. "Let's blow up a base"
- Shadow team, the outskirts of Saren's compound –
Shadow team had slowly been moving their way around the compound, heading for the back entrance of the base. There were several Geth outposts along the way on the route they were taking. They hadn't run into anything yet and that meant they were moving as fast as they could, Kirrahe would be running into the main Geth force soon and they'd need to sneak in as undetected as possible. Feral was leading the way, Shepard had told him to put his weapon down, he was concentrating as hard he could on listening out for any sort of Geth movement.
Feral suddenly stopped running in front of the group and knelt down into the water, he gestured in front of him and around the side of the cliff. Over the sounds of his team mate's heart beats and breathing, he'd heard the unmistakable sound of the synthetics whirring muscles. They'd finally run into the Geth force.
Shepard ordered Tali and Feral to move forward, Garrus was to try and get up as high as he could but if that was impossible, he'd just stay back and make long range shots over their heads. Shepard would be flanking around the side of the Geth and hitting them home as they concentrated on Tali and Feral. They were simple, but tried and tested methods. Shepard remembered one of his old CO's calling them the 4 Fs. Find, Fix, Flank and Finish.
Feral had found them. The rest of his squad would fix the Geth attention on themselves. He'd flank them and then finish off any of the machines still alive. This was the only way he could imagine they'd be able to talk on a possibly larger force, they still had no idea how many they were facing. His squad was ready though, and they all moved into their positions; waiting for Shepard's go.
Shepard heard Kirrahe over his comm; the Salarians were starting their attack on the main geth forces. Now was as good a time as any, the Geth looked momentarily distracted as the new data came flying in from platforms on the other side of the base.
Shepard raised his hand up so his team could see before bring it down in a fist, Tali threw an overload before the sound of Feral's rifle cutting through the air erupted. Over the hail of constant fire the crack of a sniper rifle and boom of Tali's shotguns were intermittent, the snap ambush had worked beautifully. The Geth were struggling to put down any sort of fire back on his team and Shepard made his move, jumping over cover and running along the rock faces directly to the side of the Geth forces.
There was a small building up in front of them and the Geth were trying their best to rush back to it, Shepard was in a perfect position to start putting down even more fire on the synthetics, cutting them down from the side. They'd never seen him moving as the rest of his squad was causing them enough issues. Feral and Tali were systematically advancing, moving one by one as they gave each other covering fire. Garrus' sniper shots barrelling over their heads at anything that even attempting to come out of cover.
The fire fight progressed quickly, the systematic moving and firing of Shepard and the two techs had pushed the Geth back and up onto upper level of the building behind them. Most of the Geth were cut down as the retreated by fire from both Shepard and Feral's rifles. A few concussive shots and grenades later and the position had been cleared. Feral had led the group up the diagonal walkway and he ran straight up to a terminal when all the machines were dead.
"Ooooo this looks important" Feral started tapping away at the terminal, Shepard signalled for Garrus to catch up to them as Tali stood next to Feral. The two techs talking about what was on the terminal. "So if I do this…." Feral hit a button and the humming of the building died out.
"We knock out Geth communication and triangulation frequencies" Tali finished "They'll miss those Shepard"
Shepard smiled at the two "Good job now let's see if we can shut anything else down for Kirrahe" Feral and Tali nodded and picked their weapons back up. As soon as Garrus was back up with the main group. Shepard led them out of the watchtower and down the metal platform. More Geth were sure to be ahead and they needed to get a move on.
The next watchtower had been a little more intense, amongst the usual Geth platforms. There had been a destroyer and a krogan mixed in with them. The destroyer had been easier than usual to deal with, Tali and Feral had grabbed some intel from the terminal and had quickly put it to good use. They'd managed to write a program on the field that sabotaged geth programming briefly, Shepard couldn't believe the speed at which the two had worked. Feral was good with software and Tali was the geth expert. Watching the destroyer go down after rampaging through its own allies had been a welcome sight.
The krogan was still an issue though and it was proving annoying, it had a heavy machine gun and not even Feral was risking poking his head up at the heavy rate of fire coming down from it. None of the team could get out of cover for long enough. Though Shepard suddenly heard Feral shouting towards Garrus and pointing towards the top of the watch tower.
Moments later a loud crack rang out, Shepard couldn't figure out what they were doing but his question was quickly answered. The large satellite array sitting on top of the tower came crashing down onto the Krogan, it wasn't killed but it certainly wasn't moving. A second shot from Garrus finally finished off the annoying reptile. The squad sat in cover in total silence for a while.
"….I can't believe that actually worked" Feral quietly said staring in quiet amazement at the scene.
Slowly the team stood up and started moving towards the watch tower, keeping a watchful eye out for anything in hiding. Feral was still staying quiet until finally "Huh…..turns out that satellite was important too. Two birds with one stone" he chuckled out from behind his recon hood. He then looked up into the air, scanning around. "Get down everyone" he quickly ran under the lip of the watchtower. The rest of the squad joined him as a group of rocket drones flew over them.
"What's the bet that they're giving Kirrahe some grief?" Garrus clicked out as he followed them away down the scope of his rifle "Probably some kind of refuelling station over there as well"
Shepard followed the noise as they disappeared off to the south. "Then we head that way, take them out and then circle around to the main base again" the group just nodded as they quickly made their way in the direction of the drones.
They'd moved quickly along the walkway, luckily the Geth were clearly distracted with the Salarians and they hadn't encountered anymore resistance. The team was still moving along nicely with no injuries as of yet and occasionally he could hear Ashley's voice come resounding over the radio, so she was still ok as well. They were all glad to hear her voice as they ran as fast as they could towards the rocket drones position.
The team stopped just around the corner, staying out of sight of the flying platforms. They had a nice big target to aim for, the two giant fuel tanks on the platform. Shepard just pointed at them, Garrus and Feral would put as many rounds into them as soon as they can. The two got into position before the commander nodded, both of them strafed around the corner. Putting well placed shots straight into the metal tanks before they erupted into a giant fireball which consumed the rocket drones, destroying the platform and leaving a large fire in its wake.
"They might notice the smoke eventually" Garrus called over to the commander who just nodded. The team quickly rushing back towards the previous watch tower, they needed to be gone if anything came to check on the explosion. From that watch tower they could move towards the base and finding a way in.
Getting to the bases entrance was proving difficult, Krogan were outside the doors and Geth shields were up all around the walls. Shadow was struggling to get any hits on the Krogan and if they did, they had regenerated before they could be permanently put down, ducking behind the walls and geth shields. Pot shots and sustained fire were being put out by both sides, the geth platforms had been wiped out in the crossfire. Saren's krogan clearly didn't care for the Geth enough to attempt to miss them.
Feral and Tali were the closest to the enemy position but they were stuck, Tali wasn't close enough for her shotgun to be really effective. Shepard and Feral were talking over their short wave radios, trying to come up with an idea. Garrus was sitting up on a ridge behind them, he could pin the Krogan down but he wasn't able to kill them outright. Finally Feral sighed as he put his hand back onto his rifle.
"Ok Tali listen up, Shepard and Garrus are going to try and pin the krogan down but I need to get closer. I'm the only one who can take the fire and get into a forward position. As I run throw whatever you can their way, anything to distract them." Feral started breathing deeply, getting himself ready for his dash along the bridge. Tali was about to talk before he continued "I'm really really sorry to ask this….but can I borrow your shotgun?"
Shepard could only watch as Feral sprinted up the cause way as fast as he could, the man could definitely shift himself when he wanted to. The strength in his legs being shown off as he moved as fast as he could, his shields were taking some serious flak though and despite the best efforts from the rest of the squad. He watched a round fly into the man's knee, knocking him down as another round went through his abdomen.
Feral snarled in pain, dragging himself as fast as he could behind cover. Luckily he had made it far enough before being hit, the knee wasn't too much of a problem that'd heal fast. The bullet too his abdomen could be more of a problem, reaching back behind him he could feel the exit wound. Panting as he sat with his back to the wall he smiled behind his recon hood, he could already feel the wound stitching itself closed.
He couldn't move yet but he was in place, a few more minutes and he'd be ready to go. He checked over Tali's shotgun, the weapon was ready to go. Tali certainly took care of it and he promised to return it in one piece. He suddenly noticed that the sunlight had vanished, looking up he saw one of the Krogan looking back down at him.
Shepard couldn't help but wince when the boom rang out, the Krogan's body flopping onto its back. Most of its head was missing and Feral was sprayed in the reptile's blood, the short range attack with Tali's shotgun had blown the enemy's head to pieces. He heard Tali groan loudly and complain that it'd take ages for her to clean the mess of her shotgun, but Shepard could tell she was glad Feral was ok. If it weren't for the fact Krogan were sluggish at the best of times, that may very well have been Feral's blood.
Feral was wiping the blood of his hood's lenses, before he quickly started to put pressure on his knee. It was good to go again, cocking the shotgun and readying it for another shot. He took another deep breath and quickly rolled to his feet, moaning as his stomach burnt in agony. The remaining Krogan was right in front of him and again Feral was faster to the punch. Shot after shot hit the reptile as Feral stepped forward, eventually a round went straight through its shields and the rapid fire shelling tore the soldier to bits.
Feral just sighed and gripping his side, letting the shotgun drop down against his thigh. "Ok….they're dead" he called back, limping slightly as he realised his knee still hurt a little bit. He could hear Shepard and Tali coming up the walkway behind him, turning to face them and holding up the shotgun so Tali could take it back. "Sorry about the blood…..some of its mine though if that makes it any better" he smirked as they swapped their weapons around.
"Bosh'tet" Tali just said before she walked off towards the main door 'Of course that's not better' she sighed as she moved towards one of the door's panels, Feral had gotten hurt again and his blood was on her weapon. How could that be better than the enemy's blood?
She was about to start opening the door before Garrus' voice came through the radio "Shepard, there's another way in. Looks like some sort of maintenance hatch, might be a better option" the turian was panting, he had a way to run to catch up with them all. Shadow team would wait for him to catch up before moving to the alternate entrance. Feral took the time to lean against a wall, letting his internal injuries heal.
Tali watched as the man held his side, she'd seen him get hit and go down during his charge up the walkway. Again his actions had caused him to get hurt and pushed the squad further towards their objective. He'd been shot twice and she could see he was in pain, her face dropping sadly as she realised this is probably what Feral was going to go through for the rest of his life. He'd always be getting hurt instead of those around him because he could take it.
She sighed again as Garrus finally caught up with them. Feral, who was finally walking normally again, quickly ran up to join them. Shepard asked if he was good to go and the super soldier nodded, a smile visible even behind his recon hood.
"Ok then lead the way Garrus" Shepard just said to the sniper
"Wait…Feral gets to rest? Don't I get a break?" Garrus just groaned as Feral patted him on the back, hard.
"Yh well maybe next time you can run into the Krogans Garrus…and get shot…twice" Feral held up two fingers to the turian. The gesture was innocent enough to anyone but a British man and Shepard rolled his eyes as Feral took advantage of that fact.
Garrus just accepted that, Feral had only patted him on the back but he could already feel that it was going to be sore in the morning. He just nodded off to the side and lead Shadow team down underneath the platform they were standing on. The maintenance hatch was clearly visible to the team now and Tali jogged forward, setting her weapon down and worked on opening the hatch.
The door was quickly open and Shepard called for Tali and Feral to head in first. He and Garrus would be a minute behind them to make sure nothing was creeping up on the two. Feral jogged up to Tali and the two slowly started making their way into the base.
The two crept forward slowly, checking all of their angles as they moved swiftly but silently down the hatch. Feral used the opportunity of them being alone to start talking to the quarian.
"Is everything ok Tali?" he whispered over as the two moved close together "You've been….a little on edge recently"
"We are infiltrating Saren's base of operations Feral, aren't you on edge?" Tali hissed back quietly at him, they kept moving as quickly as they could. Weapons raised at all times.
"Well you know me, I'm always on edge" came the sarcastic reply "No seriously Tali, you've been acting weird since this morning. Are you sure you're ok?" he sounded worried
Tali went quiet at that, Feral had noticed she was acting weird around him. Her heart started pounding in her chest and she hoped Feral wasn't concentrating on hearing, she was scared he was going to start digging more and that she'd say something stupid. "Feral….I just have a lot on my mind that's all. This mission is huge and I guess it's just getting to me" Tali finally whispered out, half lying to the man.
To her surprise she just felt his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "Tali if you ever need to talk, you know I'm here for you too" she could see him smiling behind his hood. It was always weird to see him wearing a helmet, it was one of the few times where she'd have to guess his facial expressions. 'Keelah if only you were a quarian…' instantly her face started burning up. "Thanks" she managed to squeak out before she moved on ahead.
Feral just stood there as he watched her move ahead "….you're welcome" he sighed as he went to catch up. What was on her mind and just how bad could it possibly be to make her this way? He shook his head, now wasn't the time. She was still kicking ass and he could carry on protecting her, no need to worry yet. 'I'll just talk to her again after the mission'
The two made their way down the tunnel until it opened up into a large room, off to the side was a raised platform with another door and terminal. Feral replaced his weapon and ran ahead, whatever the terminal was the sooner he was on it the better.
Tali slowly worked her way up to him, normally she would've ran next to the man and had a little race to the computer but…right now her head was spinning 'I can't believe I thought that! I can't believe I wished he was quarian' she was mentally sighing, when she had tried to find work before running into Saren's geth she had something similar.
"I'm sorry we're not hiring Quarians, you're clearly capable but we just can't risk to have you work here. It's a shame….if only you were human or asari…"
Feral had never treated her differently for being a quarian and here she was, wishing the man had been a quarian. 'Why did I think that? He's perfect the way he is' she mentally sighed again. She could see him up ahead working on the terminal. She smiled as she looked at him, he'd pulled his recon hood off to work and his hair was fuzzed up because of it. '…..if only I were human….'
Feral was typing at the console, his recon hood shoved into one of his pockets. He hated working with the red lenses in the way and at the moment he could take it off without worry of being shot. Shepard and Garrus had finally emerged from the tunnel as well. 'Good, nothing ugly coming up behind us' he smirked as he worked 'well…except Garrus' he watched the turian run along before snapping back to the computer screen.
"Feral" Shepard called over from the walkway as they stepped towards the two, Tali was standing next to the door and Feral looking at the screen "What do you have for us?"
Feral looked over his shoulder, blowing a strand of hair out of his vision before continuing "Well obviously I can open that door from here" he pointed at the door "But…I also have control of the bases alarms. So I can disable them which will give us a quiet entry into the base….obviously." Feral then turned "But we have two more options as well. Option 1 I set off the alarms on the other side of the base to us and Option 2 I can set off the alarms at our side of the base"
"Wait what? Why would we set the alarms off out our side?" Garrus almost shouted at the man before Shepard answered for him
"If we set off the alarms near us, the Geth will come to us and that'll take pressure off Kirrahe's men. The other option will take pressure off of us and put it all on Kirrahe. We'll have an easy route through but Kirrahe will probably get overrun" he slowly voiced the tech's reasoning
"Oh…." it actually made sense to Garrus "Wait how did you come up with that Feral?"
Feral just smirked "Believe it or not Garrus this is not the first base of operations I've ever infiltrated" he turned back towards the computer "Admittedly the last one wasn't a krogan breeding facility run by a mad, evil, rogue Spectre hell bent on killing us all…..just saying. So commander what's the call?" He quickly moved back to the matter at hand, ready to initiate whatever the commander chose.
"Just disable the alarms Feral, we can handle whatever is out there. Kirrahe doesn't need to have more Geth to deal with and we can't risk being discovered as the actual threat." Shepard replied to the man, watching as he typed away whilst the commander talked.
"And behind door number 1" Feral hit a few more keys before the door swung open "you have your fabulous prize of sweet fuck all" he spun around and grinned "no alarms, nothing expecting us and a whole base all to ourselves" he then grabbed his recon hood and pulled it back over his head. His voice becoming slightly synthesised. "Let's blow this place back to hell"
Shadow team pressed deeper into the facility and what they were uncovering along the way was unsettling. Salarian soldiers had been experimented on, indoctrinated to Saren's will much like Benezia and her Asari had been. But they had far less control, babbling insanely as the team walked past the containers. Feral was being especially quiet and with his recon hood in the way it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Are you ok Feral?" Shepard was worried, and silently so was Tali. They both knew what Feral had been through and this place must have reminded him of the very many Cerberus bases he'd been moved to and from.
"Yeah…just….yeah I'm fine" Feral managed to get out, he felt bad for these Salarians. They'd been captured on a mission just like he had, but they must have known help was coming. Feral never knew if he was ever going to be free and yet he'd kept his mind, it was the one thing no one had ever taken from him. These Salarians had been driven insane by Saren, as he remained quiet his blood boiled. 'Saren has to die'
The further they pushed into the base the more and more angry Feral was getting, he was trying to keep it boiled down. Aim it at the enemy and make them pay. As they pressed on not only had they run into more Geth and Krogan, but indoctrinated STG Salarians. The entire team's emotions were running high. They knew Saren had indoctrinated almost all of his organic forces, but they never expected him being capable of breaking the STG teams.
Feral was just squeezing his rifle tighter and tighter in his hands, he'd noticed the pistol grip had cracked slightly in his hand. 'Calm down, calm down' he was telling himself over and over again. His silent mental mantra was finally silenced as shadow team stepped through the doors and into a large lab area. Scattered around were containment units, husks, Krogans and Salarians were locked in stasis. This was beyond anything Feral had ever seen, the scale was ginormous in comparison to his ordeal. At the end of the laboratory was a lone Krogan, by the style of his clothing he was a scientist.
That was the final nail in the coffin for Feral, he saw red. How many more times would he discover a species experimenting on itself? How many more would sell their own people in the name of science. He just started walking forward, ignoring the sound of Shepard calling for him to stop behind him. He holstered his rifle and drew out his pistol and knife, well placed shots, stabs and punches dispatched any husk that got close enough to the angry super soldier.
The Krogan started to charge towards Feral, a couple of husks had gotten lucky, scratches on his armour, arms and face. The wounds to his skin quickly sealed up and as the Krogan ran towards the human.
Shepard just watched as he saw Feral through his weapons off to the side and crouch down low. The forward momentum of the Krogan had thrown Feral backwards, but the man had practically cut the reptile in half. Ducking down lower than the scientist and driving his shoulders into his stomach before letting himself be pushed back, spinning them around in the air so Feral landed on top of him. It had reminded him of a rugby tackle, well timed and well placed. The speed and strength of the krogan had been nullified by his positioning.
What happened next though, no one expected. Feral just started punching at the scientist. Wildly throwing blow after blow into the krogans head, the victims kinetic shields quickly broke at the force but Feral didn't let up for one second. He just kept punching, practically roaring as he brought both of his hands over his head and brought them crashing down into the faceplate of the Krogan. The tough outer layer just shattered under the force and the reptile convulsed before it finally died.
The room just went quiet, the humming of machines was the only noise other than Feral panting heavily as he stepped away from the dead scientist. He pulled off his recon hood and just threw it away before he fell to his knees. He was quickly calming down but he could see he had shocked the entire team. One deep breath later he stood back up, retrieving his pistol and knife.
"Sorry about that…this place reminds me…..well….I don't think I need to say what it reminds me of" Feral sighed, his eyes were downcast as he pulled the hood back over his head. "I'm ok now commander, sorry for losing my cool like that" his voice wasn't back to normal but it was definitely calmer.
Shepard finally spoke up "Its ok Feral, we all get it. As long as you're not going to freak out and start killing everything in sight" he smirked, hoping that Feral would respond like he normally would.
A small sigh of relief left Tali's lips as she heard Feral laugh quietly at Shepard's comment. She slowly stepped towards the man and held up her shotgun "Are you sure you needed this earlier? You did a pretty good job without it" she just walked past Feral and stepped towards the locked door at the end of the hall. She was happy he was back to normal again, and her worries had briefly subsided.
Feral smiled at her words before laughing a little bit louder "Hey I like using your shotgun, makes me feel as half as tough as you are" he quickly followed after her, his eyes briefly glancing down. 'Ignore the hips, ignore the hips, ignore the hips' he rolled his eyes at himself before he caught up and helped Tali crack the door open.
Shepard and Garrus just looked at each other before the walked slowly after them. "If Feral and Tali could have children I think the galaxy would have a worse threat to peace than the Krogan Shepard, we need to keep an eye on those two" Garrus stated seriously before Shepard just laughed, the two quickly running up to the two techs as they got the door open.
Finally Shadow squad was back outside, the base had walkways over the sea and the fresh air was welcome compared to the stench inside the labs. There was little to no resistance as they hopped across the metal walkways. They finally came to another building, the draw bridge opposite it lead towards the gun but it was up. And without an obvious way to drop it they'd have to check inside for a way to release it.
Stepping into yet another building, the immediate scan of the room presented no threats. But the banging against a table made them raise their weapons as a terrified Asari popped up from underneath it.
"Don't shoot!" the Asari scientist shouted at the heavily armed group, Shepard hoped Feral had dealt fully with his 'scientist' obsession and clearly the man had. He lowered his weapon along with everyone else.
"Thank you, I'm Rana" the Asari carefully said
"Everything we've encountered in this base so far has been trying to kill us, why are you here?" Shepard said, it was odd to see an unarmed Asari
"I'm just a nurse, I've been helping Saren study indoctrination. It has something to do with that ship of his, Sovereign. It emits this really weird signal, it's almost undetectable but it's there. We've seen its effects." She quickly admitted
Feral growled loudly "You mean you've seen them on those Salarians in cages?" he stepped forward but Shepard stopped him.
"Those people had lives and you've helped turn them into mindless slaves, give me one good reason I should let you go" Shepard ordered
"Like I said I'm just a nurse, indoctrination affects everyone here. My first test subject was the man I took over from and eventually Saren will want to dissect my brain too. This job isn't worth dying over" she pleaded, the sob story hadn't won any of the people over "Look….I can open this elevator for you, it leads to Saren's private office" The asari quickly ran over and typed into the panel "There….can I go please?"
"Get out of here, we're setting up a bomb and blowing this place to hell." Shepard finally stated, he was giving the Asari a fighting chance. She had helped them into Saren's private office and at this point they needed anything they could get their hands on.
"You can't….but how will I get…." The asari stumbled before finally just running past the group and down one the walkway.
Feral just snorted "You enjoyed that a little bit didn't you Shepard?"
Shepard just smiled back at the man "Well…I can't lie to you can I?" he stepped off before Feral had a time to quip back. The entire squad shuffled into an elevator, Shepard ordering Tali to smack Feral for him if he started to hit his head on the wall.
"Gladly" came the purr from the quarian as she stared up at Feral, who just looked back at her through his lenses before standing perfectly still.
"Don't worry Feral, if the elevator stops I'll hit your head against the panel myself" Garrus piped up as they moved down, Feral just sighed.
'I knew I'd regret telling that story'
Once the elevator reached the bottom of its shaft, the team stepped out and entered Saren's private room. Shepard, Tali and Kaidan all looked in shock at the protean beacon sitting at the front of the room slowly stepping down the stairs towards it. Feral had no idea what the thing was, so he stayed on the upper level resting his elbows on the railing as he looked down over them.
"…..seeing as you guys seem to recognise that….what is it?" Feral just threw it out there, he still had no idea
Tali turned to look up at him "It's a Prothean beacon Feral, it's what gave Shepard his visions." Feral just looked up at the device and nodded in understanding
"But this one is intact…..it could be the final piece of the puzzle we need" Shepard said as he tentatively stepped towards it.
It was Feral's turn to have his eyes bolt wide open as he watched the Commander get yanked into the air, it looked like he was having some sort of seizure. 'Ok things I never want to do, get mind fucked by a Prothean beacon' Kaidan and Tali didn't seem shocked by what was happening so he guessed it must have been normal. Still it looked…awkward especially from his vantage point.
Eventually Shepard just slumped back down to the ground and the moment he did, the consoles around Feral turned on. Making the man step back as a large red squid shaped hologram appeared before them. 'That looks like…..no it can't be'
"You are not Saren" boomed the synthetic voice, its very frequency made the room vibrate
Tali had bolted up the stairs when she had seen the activity quickly joining Feral "What is that? A VI?" she asked as Feral looked at her and shrugged. Garrus and Shepard eventually came up the stairs as well, Shepard stepping into the middle of the group.
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding" the voice boomed out again
Feral just stood wide eyed behind his hood, VIs didn't talk like that "I don't think that's a VI Tali" the two techs just looked at each other worryingly.
"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you can't even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign" it finally identified itself, Saren's flagship.
"Sovereign isn't a reaper ship…it's an actual reaper" Shepard voiced everyone's thoughts, none of them truly knew what to think in the face of this development. Sovereign was gigantic and alive.
Sovereign replied to Shepard this time, finally acknowledging the commander "Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end what they chose to call us is irrelevant, we simply are"
"If these things wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago…how long have they been around for? Machines this advanced…..they could last forever Shepard" even Feral sounded worried, how the hell were they going to beat this thing?
"Organic life is nothing but a mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades, you wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence, before us. You are nothing" Sovereign voiced, it was like a pre-recorded message. "You're extinction is inevitable, we are the end of everything"
Shepard suddenly took a step forward "Whatever your plan is, it won't work. I'll make sure of that" he glared at the hologram, looking straight into the circular shape on its main body.
"Confidence born of ignorance, the cycle cannot be broken"
Garrus just shook his head "That….that doesn't sound good."
Sovereign then kept talking, Shadow squads worst fears were all confirmed. The Reapers had been around for millennia maybe even longer and they had been wiping out organic life systematically for that entire time. Then an even bigger revelation, the Protheans hadn't created the Citadel or the Mass Relays. They were all of Reaper design, made to force organic life along certain paths.
Feral barely whispered "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" Shepard looked around at him, the quote was accurate. According to Sovereign every piece of technology that built up galactic society was Reaper and it would lead to their destruction.
Sovereign was silent for a moment "Revelation 22:13, The Bible. It is fitting"
"Thanks Feral give the Reaper ideas" Garrus glared at him, Feral just shrugged. Clearly an ancient being capable of galactic devastation didn't need any more ideas.
"It doesn't matter what you are!" Shepard shouted again "In the end you're just a machine, and machines can be broken. We can beat you!"
"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over" the room erupted as the windows exploded, shaking the entire room at the force. Feral managed to catch Tali before she tripped over, grabbing onto the rail and tugging her tightly into him. He let her go as soon as the room stopped spinning, she was grateful for the help but it really didn't help her. She was desperate to apologize to him and every single time he stopped her falling over she was wrapped in his strong arms and pushed against the very chest she was trying to forget about.
She was about to say something to Feral but she was cut off by the sound of Joker
"Commander I don't know what you did but that ship Sovereign. It just made a U-turn that would cut must Alliance vessels in half. It's coming straight towards the base. May I suggest you hurry up so we can blow this place up before it gets here?" Joker chimed over the radio
"Roger that Joker" Shepard turned to the rest of his team "Ok double time it, we need to take out that AA tower and get the Normandy landed" the entire squad just bolted straight for the elevator, not even giving a yes. They had to move, Sovereign was coming and that only meant a hell of a lot more Geth and possibly even Saren himself.
They worked their way up the elevator as quickly as possible, Feral taking the time to comment that moments like this are when stairs are better, he could run up them faster. That made Shepard groan and hit his head on the panel. He really didn't need it to stop and if Feral believed in it then it was good enough for him right now. When they reached the top Feral just couldn't stop laughing as both he and the commander charged out of the elevator. Leaving a stunned Garrus and Tali who quickly shook it off and ran after the two.
The drawbridge that had blocked them earlier was folding down in front of them and 3 angry krogan were on the other side. However this time, it was a straight line path with very little cover and they had distance to their advantage. Garrus started taking well timed shots, waiting for Feral and Shepard's assault rifles to break the shields on the slowly advancing tanks. The polonium rounds of the sniper rifle leaving very little left as they entered the soft tissue of the Krogan skull.
3 dead krogan later the team were running down the walkway as fast as they can, encountering small amounts of Geth resistance in a large room with water covering the entire floor. Hoppers had filled the area and the bouncy bastards refused to sit still. The team stayed beyond cover, Tali and Feral hitting them with overloads whenever they could, making the hoppers fall into the water where Shepard and Garrus finished them off. It took time but no one had been hurt. Feral had fallen over when a hopper had bounced off him at one point, he wasn't injured but he was soaking wet.
The team moved on again, moving as quickly as possible. The Geth resistance was pathetic, the only issue was the occasional Krogan or Juggernaut and if they got too close to Feral it was over before it began. Tali or Feral himself would knock the shields out before the super human punched the enemy until it stopped moving. Eventually Shadow squad made it to their AA tower, just receiving word that Kirrahe and Ashley had taken out theirs.
At last, Feral had disconnected the AA tower and the gun was down. The team moved up into the elevator and slowly took it up to the top. Once they were there, they would have to destroy any resistance in the landing zone before the Normandy could land and the nuclear bomb could be deployed. Again the resistance had been minimal and before long Shadow team was watching the Normandy surge overhead before landing perfectly at the end of the landing zone.
Feral had wolf whistled as it had passed overhead "Ok credit where credit is due, that was awesome" he snickered as Garrus just rolled his eyes
"Joker doesn't need any more encouragement Feral, especially after Therum" Garrus grumbled, Feral just put his hands up in defence
"I still haven't heard that story Garrus, hey maybe if I follow you around and you ask you tell me it repeatedly you'd bite" Feral grinned, his recon hood was off again and this time his hair was soaking wet.
Shadow squad just watch happily as Kaidan and Wrex stepped off the Normandy carrying the bomb. It meant their time in the base was going to be over shortly. Liara also jumped off the Normandy and walked up to Shepard and the two started talking, both Garrus and Feral noticed the woman's small blush.
Feral just looked at the turian after he'd been nudged in the ribs "Feral can you hear what they are saying?"
"Of course I can Garrus and I'd love to tell you I really would but Tali is standing behind you" Feral just smiled nicely to the turian "I think she wants me to tell you to mind your own business" turning around to face the Quarian who was just glaring at Garrus "isn't that right Tali?"
Garrus just laughed as he walked off, mumbling something about Feral and the fact he didn't even have ears. Tali just looked at Feral "Can you really hear what they are saying?"
"Hmm? Oh! oh no of course I can't. If I concentrated sure but….I'm not going to eavesdrop. I'm pretty sure I know what they are talking about anyway" Feral just looked back at the two, Shepard and Liara were both smiling happily as they talked.
Tali just watched the human and the asari. Sighing mentally, human and asari was easy and the two species had been involved romantically for years now. She'd never heard of a human-quarian relationship, it'd just be too difficult. It was at that moment Tali decided that she'd apologize and stop her silliness, no matter how badly she didn't want to.
Suddenly a thud and then a loud voice drew their attention "Ok Shepard, the bomb's in place. The biotic just needs to arm it" Shepard nodded and patted Liara's shoulder before walking to the side. He was going to radio Ashley to come in and get to the extraction point.
Everyone else just went back to their own business again, Kaidan was arming the bomb and Ashley would be coming soon. Feral was looking at Tali, she was rubbing her hands again. He'd quickly noticed that she always did that whenever she was worried about something. "Tali?"
The woman looked up at him "Y-yes Feral?" the suddenness of her name being called and the worried look on Feral's face had shocked her.
"Are you absolutely sure that all this" he gestured to her hands "is just the mission? Is there anything else I can help you with?" Feral stepped closer, trying to get a gauge on her eyes. His enhanced vision couldn't see through the visor but it could make out the glowing shape of her eyes more easily.
Tali's face starting burning up again at the proximity "Why? Wh-what could I possibly have to talk about? I'm fine really Feral there's nothing wrong with me at all and…Keelah is it hot here or is it just me?" Tali just babbled out rapidly, leaving Feral blinking as he tried to decipher.
"Erm….ok…well if yo-" he was cut off by Shepard shouting
"Everybody who isn't arming that bomb get your weapons and follow me! Ashley needs help!" The entire team except Kaidan sprang into action, grabbing their weapons and rushing after the commander as the 7 strong unit barrelled towards the second AA tower. The Normandy had taken off again to avoid being detected, it'd be back whenever the all clear was given and the bomb was ready.
Shepard's team had quickly cut through the forces in their way, now that he had Liara and Wrex back they could do a lot more tactically. Both Feral and Wrex acted as tanks, drawing fire and using their biotic and tech skills whenever they could. Shepard and Garrus were the main fire team, shooting and anything left moving by the two tanks. Tali and Liara were their support squad, heavy biotic attacks and technical powers fine-tuned for the geth kept everything at bay.
They quickly made their way towards Ashley's position until suddenly an explosion behind them erupted and Kaidan's voice came over the radio.
"Commander I'm pinned down! The Geth came out of nowhere!" Kaidan was shouting over rapid gunfire, he was in trouble and the nuclear bomb hadn't been armed. Shepard couldn't believe what he was hearing, he didn't have time to send two teams in both directions. Ashley was pinned down at the AA tower and now Kaidan was under fire with the nuclear bomb. He had to make a choice.
"Commander, you need to go back and get that bomb armed" Ashley's voice came over the coms calmly "If the Lt is killed and that bomb doesn't go off then all of this will have been in vain, you have to go back for Alenko" the team could hear rounds going off and hitting the walls around her.
Shepard sighed, she was right. Kaidan was arguing back but Ashley was right, if that bomb didn't detonate. All of this mission would have been pointless, the sacrifices of the salarian STG team wasted. He rubbed his forehead before finally saying "Ashley is right….we go back for Kaidan and the bomb"
"Shepard you can't be serious…" Feral suddenly spoke up, everyone turning around to face him "The bomb isn't armed yet we can still make it!" the thought of losing a team mate again was not acceptable in Feral's mind. They weren't even going to try to save Ashley.
"Feral If I split up the team, I risk losing more than just Ashley's life. I don't like it either but I need everyone I possibly can. We cannot make it as a unit Feral, not to save both of them" Shepard said as he gestured for everyone to make their way back to the bombsite.
Feral just stood there looking at the ground, he'd already lost an entire unit to the men who made him what he was. "Then don't send the unit Shepard, just send me" he turned around as he shouted the words.
Shepard stopped and turned around "Are you not listening to me? We don't have time!"
"I can make it! I can! This is what I was made for Shepard. I'm one person, I can go light and fast. Hit them and grab her and run" Feral responded "Shepard you have to let me try" his voice was resolute, he believed he could do it. Shepard could see the determination in his eyes, so far Feral had been capable of everything he'd said he was capable of…why stop believing him now?
"Feral you have 10 minutes, no matter what you better be back at the landing site by then" Shepard finally said. Feral just nodded and bolted off around the corner, sprinting as fast as he could towards Ashley's position. He was close, the AA tower was just around the corner.
Tali just watched in horror as Feral darted off, how could he leave? How could he leave her now? She just shook her head slightly as she stared into the space where Feral used to be, it wasn't until Shepard grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"He will come back Tali, don't worry about him. You know he'll come back because he has you to come back to" Shepard said quietly, but his eyes were deadly serious. Tali's eyes were wide in shock, how did Shepard know she cared about him? She'd never told anyone…unless….but that was impossible. There was no way Feral felt the same. But Shepard's words had hit home, Feral would come back.
Feral was panting hard, he was running faster than he ever had before. Sliding over cover and never losing his momentum, the few Geth platforms that had been in his way had suddenly gone flying into a wall or over the edge of the base as the super soldier juggernauted through like a Krogan. He had less mass than a Krogan, but because of that he was a lot faster. It was minutes before Feral started hearing the gunfire ahead, he was incredibly close.
He hit the door panel and was greeted by the sight of the last remaining STG members behind cover next to the wall. They had been trying to reach Ashley as well, who was pinned down by a constant barrage of rifle, rocket and plasma fire. The situation was bad, not only were destroyers on the scene but a prime had showed up. Kirrahe was sitting down behind a crate, he had been ordering his troops to put down covering fire so they could make their way to Ash. The several dead Salarians between him and her showed they hadn't been successful.
"Hey Captain, we need to hurry right now. That bomb is going off and we have….7 minutes to get Ashley and get back to the Normandy for extraction" Feral said quickly, he was out of breath but he was managing
"We've been trying to reach her, but we can't get across the line of fire." Kirrahe stated "That Geth Prime is just waiting for someone to stick their head out and the moment they do….well you can see the result."
"Well..it's a good thing you've got me now huh?" Feral grinned "tell your men to put everything they can on those Geth, I can make it to Ashley no problem. Hey Ash you hear that? I'm coming for you ok?"
Feral could see Ashley look over and he just waved before a loud, angry voice shouted down his ear. "What the hell Feral? I give you the opportunity to get out of here and you come to me anyway?...Thanks" she sighed as she sat back against the crates.
"No problem, Kirrahe are you ready?" The Salarian just nodded and Feral started to run the moment the roar of gun fire started. Feral smiled, he could do this. In his mind he would have Ashley and be gone in seconds before suddenly a huge rain of fire made him stumble and scramble back into cover.
"What was that?" Feral shouted as he checked himself, no wounds. He'd been lucky.
"It's no use! We can't get enough fire down we just don't have the man power!" Kirrahe shouted back "We can't get to her, we have to pull back to the Normandy before we get overrun!"
Feral was about to protest before Ashley spoke into the radio again. "He's right Feral, you don't have a choice. You have to go now! I can hold them here until you're gone…give them hell for me will you?"
Feral just stared over at Ashley from the cover he was in, the Salarian team were already falling back towards the Normandy. He couldn't believe he'd failed and because of that Ashley was dead. He slowly raised his hand to his ear "Sure thing Ash…I'm so sorry" Feral just gritted his teeth as he turned away, shutting the door and putting an encryption over it to slow any Geth down.
Back at the Normandy, Shepard was waiting apprehensively. The clock was ticking and the entire squad were standing on the Normandy's open cargo hold.'2 minutes until we have to go….c'mon Feral' Suddenly Tali shouted out, the Salarian STG were bursting around the corner and heading straight for the Normandy. Everyone felt a sigh of relief hit them, Feral had done it. God knows how but he had done it.
Everyone was pulling the STG members on board when Feral came bolting around the corner….alone. He ran all the way to the Normandy and jumped onto the cargo bay door where he collapsed from exhaustion, he was panting heavily as he laid back on the metal. Hitting his head on the floor before he was pulled to his feet by Garrus and Kaidan.
Shepard couldn't believe it, the look on the super soldiers face was hidden by his recon hood, but he could tell Feral wasn't taking this well. Shepard couldn't even begin to imagine what had happened as he rose his hand "Joker, get us out of here"
Ashley Williams, Born 2158 Died 2183. She was an Alliance marine from an Alliance family. She served with pride and honour and was an example to all of those around her. She was killed in action of the surface of Virmire assisting in the destruction of Saren Arterius' base of Operations. Her sacrifice saved the lives of many other men and women. We will never forget her. Her fighting spirit lives on in the lives she saved. – Memorial to Ashley Williams.