The five of them froze as the Geth crawlers held their lives in their cold, synthetic hands. The targeting lasers of each crawler pointed at their foreheads. Shepard had a passing thought to reach for his rifle and attempt to dive into cover, but Geth think at the speed of light. Any sudden movement and he would be ended in a split-second.
Garrus stared at Shepard the entire time with his eyes wide open as if saying 'well, you going to get us out of this one?' The Spectre could see the Turian's expression in the corner of his eye; afraid to even speak. Any idea seemed stupid at this point.
Tali and Kal seemed to be fairing better. Tali simply waited faithfully for her lovers next move. Anything plan he executed, suicidal or not, she would follow him; through hell and back. Kal, with his disciplined personality, kept his mind clear. Vel was scared out of her mind. Serving in the Quarian Marine corp only to end up in a near-death situation, wasn't exactly where she saw herself a few months back at the recruiting office.
"Shepard..." Garrus mumbles. Shepard remains frozen without a response. "Shepard..." the Turian repeats.
"Working on it..." Shepard mumbles back. A few moments later, the door at the far end of the room where they came in exploded. The two panels were sent flying against both sides of the room. A familiar Geth platform then emerged from the smoke. Two of the crawlers took position on each side of it.
"I OFFER YOU A CHOICE SHEPARD...AN EXCHANGE...THE CONTAINER...FOR YOUR LIVES..." Shepard turned to look at Garrus then back to his nemesis.
"I don't know what your talking about..." he says in a very convincing, stern tone. Nazara easily sees past the human concept of sarcasm and lies however.
"YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE ONLY INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE ACQUIRED THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROTHEANS GREATEST SECTRET...YOU ARE FOOLISH..."
Shepard curses under his breath. How could he possibly know. "...What do you want with it?"
"THE ANSWER DOES NOT NEED TO BE SAID SHEPARD...I COULD HAVE DESTROYED YOU THE MOMENT I SET FOOT IN THIS ROOM...BUT YOU ARE...UNIQUE IN THE EYES OF MY KIND...I OFFER THIS GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH...REFUSE, AND YOUR DEATH WILL COME SOONER THAN I PREFER..."
Shepard turned to Garrus to who shook his head in disapproval then to his Quarian lover who gave a nod; acknowledging that she supports any decision he may make. The Spectre lowered his gaze to the floor and stood in thought before re-directing his eyes to Nazara with a new resolve in his expression.
"Legion..." he said taking a few steps forward. The possessed platform tilted its head to the side in puzzlement. "...You may be an AI but you have just as much power as I do to fight this...if your in there...please..."
Nazara surprisingly makes few stuttering sounds; the Geth language, then takes a step forward. The Spectre remains hopeful that his the synthetic he had come to call his friend, will overcome his possession. However all hope is quickly lost...
"YOUR LEGION REMAINS OFFLINE...THE MIND OF AN AI CAN NOT OVERCOME MY POWER SHEPARD...I OFFER YOU ONE FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO DELIVER THE ARTIFACT..."
Shepard stood dumbfounded. He knew he had nothing to bargain with, no heroic plan of escape. Surrender seemed the only available option at the moment. But he had to try. Whatever secrets the Prothean device contained, he couldn't let it fall into the hands of a Reaper. It could be their only chance at defeating them once and for all.
Taking on a smirk, Shepard hoped that maybe his Spectre charm would allow him to talk his way out of the situation. "You're not going to shoot me. You don't even know if I have what you want. I could have hidden it somewhere...or you could just shoot me and hope you don't damage it..." Sovereign was silent for a moment before his face plates lifted into the position of a Geth's smile.
"YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH SHEPARD...PERHAPS IF I ALTER THE CONDITIONS OF OUR TRADE..." Without anticipating this next move, Shepard watches in horror as beam of spiraling energy shoots from Sovereign's hand, wraps itself around Tali's neck, and pulls her toward the possessed platform.
"TALI!" Shepard yells as he watches his fiance flail around in the Reaper's hold; barely able to scream from the constriction of her throat.
"THIS IS THE PRICE OF YOUR ORGANIC DELUSIONS...I KNOW YOU FEEL THIS..." the Reaper says without even a hint of emotion.
"Don't you touch her!" the Spectre hissed at his arch enemy. The Reaper outstretched his other arm.
"THE ATRIFACT..." The Spectre felt his muscles freeze and his mind go blank. He wanted to lunge forward in a desperate attempt to rescue his soon to be life-mate, but all it would take is one wrong movement, and the Reaper would not hesitate to snap her fragile Quarian neck.
Unbeknownst to the group, while everyone was distracted, Vel'Lara, who stood behind Kal, folded both arms behind her back and brought her omni-tool to life. She began to work on hacking the Geth crawler run-times secretly. Years of engineering back on the Rayya has taught her how to operate an algorithm without even looking at the holographic projection of the tool itself.
Tali was the only one who noticed this in the bottom of her blurring vision as she struggled in the choke-hold. She noticed Shepard resigning to defeat as he began to step forward and reached behind his back for the Prothean device.
"D-Don't do it...Sh-Shepard!" she managed to squeeze from her vocals.
"...I'm sorry Tali..." the Spectre replied sadly.
"I'm not!" Vel suddenly blurted out. With one press of her omni-tool all Geth crawlers in the room instantly shifted their heads to Sovereign with targeting lasers locked onto his radiating form. Before the Reaper could assess this new development, every crawler unit in the room fired their ocular pulse cannons; striking his kinetic barrier with massive force. He staggered in several directions which caused him to release his hold on the Quarian engineer. Garrus, Kal, and Vel all drew weapons and laid down cover fire while the Spectre rushed to the aid of his Quarian fiance.
"Let's move!" Shepard commanded as he pulled Tali to her feet and retreated to the exit with his team following behind. The crawlers provided an excellent distraction. Sovereign was unable to pursue as he battered by their powerful blasts.
"USELESS PAWNS!" Channeling his anger into power, the Reaper created a massive biotic field that exploded through the room; shredding the crawlers and leaving only their white ectoplasmic blood behind.
"PURSUE THEM...LEAVE SHEPARD'S BODY INTACT...RETRIEVE THE ARTIFACT..."
All five reached the elevator back up to the tunnels. Shepard hit the ascend button before even having both feet on the platform. Nearly all of them were panting from the adrenaline that still overtook them. Remembering who to thank for their escape, Kal turned to Vel.
"Nice work kid. I'll make sure the board gives you a medal." he said with a smile. Tali too showed her appreciation.
"I will put in a recommendation as well. You deserve a...a..." Tali began to wobble before she collapsed to her knees from her vertigo.
"Tali?" Shepard knelt down at her side.
"I'm sorry Shepard..." she said to her lover, leaving him confused for a moment. The Spectre began checking her suit when Kal walked over and gently lifted her veil back, revealing a small empty compartment in the back of her helmet. Kal looked at Shepard and shook his head.
"Tali" Shepard started. "What did you do?" She took a few deep breathes before responding.
"I—those dropships would have killed all of us...there weren't any spare power cells so..."
"The power cell she gave you for the Cain" Kal interjected. "She took it from her suit. Her filters aren't working. Based on the time since then, figure she has 10 minutes before her oxygen reserves run out." Kal turned from Tali to Vel and noticed she was gazing down at the floor with her hands clasped tightly together below her waist. Slowly he rose and walked over to here.
"You were the only one sitting next to her..." he said suspiciously.
"I-I'm sorry! She told me not to say anything! I didn't think-"
"What? That she would either suffocate inside her suit? Or worse, catch something fatal when she has to rip her mask off!" Kal interrupted.
"I'm sorry...I tried to..." she was barely able to get the words out, feeling guilty for her actions.
"You should have stopped her!" Kal snapped.
"Kal..." said Tali in between breaths. "It's not her fault. It was my choice." Kal backed away from Vel with anger still in his eyes.
"Damnit Tali." said Shepard as he lifted her helmet so that she was looking into his eyes. "Why do you have to be so damn selfless..."
"I do it for you Shepard." she replied softly with a smile. "I can..." she rose to her feet with Shepard helping her. "I'll make it. I'm just a little light-headed." Kal placed his hands on his hips and shook his head as he turned to Tali.
"Ma'am if your father were here...well...I guess I don't even want to think about it..."
The elevator finished its long ascent and the team all made their way to the Hammerhead still waiting for them. Luckily the Geth had left it intact. Apparently they didn't expect them to escape. All five boarded quickly; Shepard in the pilots seat with Tali as co-pilot, and Garrus on the gun. Kal and Vel took a seat in the back. The thrusters soon flared to life and the vehicle boosted down the watery tunnel. They continued for a few hundred meters when in the distance, they spotted a divide in the tunnel.
"Which way?" Shepard said turning to Tali. A few inputs in her console a map of the tunnel displayed.
"Go left, it will lead us underneath the Geth barrier. From there it's only 300 meters from the exit." she replies flatly. Shepard jerked the sticks hard left following her instruction. The tunnel formed a ramp that went up for 50 meters before leveling out once again into a long, flat corridor. About 100 meters later they passed under the Geth barrier and communications were restored.
"We've just passed under the barrier." Tali confirmed.
"Ground team to Normandy, we need an evac 200 meters north of our position."
"Good to finally hear from you commander, bringing the Normandy in now." Jeff replied over the communicator.
A moment later they heard a loud thud on top of the Hammerhead. "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF THIS FORM."
"What the hell was that?" Kal exclaimed. Garrus proceeded to rotate the missile turret backward and found that a Geth Prime crackling with energy, had climbed onto the back of the vehicle.
"Whoa!" Garrus fired two missiles one after the other which the Prime dodged by pivoting its body. Before he could let out a third missile the possessed Prime grabbed the barrel of the M-44's cannon and tore it off; casting it aside.
"We got a big problem here Shepard!" A large synthetic fist punched through the hull following the Turian's comment. It reached around inside the vehicle trying to grab anyone of them as they leaned away trying to avoid it. Kal quickly grabbed his assault rifle and began to fire through the roof as the fist retracted again and again, continuing to thrust its fist through the hull with ease.
With one final breach the Prime managed to grab the Kal's weapon and cast it off. It then began to bend the hull outward. Just as it head came into view and it began to reach for the marine, Shepard looked back then quickly ignited the the Hammerhead's thrusters. The Prime was crushed and fell off the back of the vehicle as it hit the tunnel ceiling. Everyone inside was thrown around including Kal who had cracked his visor when his helmet hit the inside of the vehicle.
"Please warn me before you do something like again!" Scowled the Quarian marine. Vel instinctively pulled out a can of sealant from her belt's pouch and was about to spray it along the crack in his visor before he slapped her hand away. She recoiled and dropped the can in the process then went silent.
"The exit is just 50 meters ahead...keep...go..." Tali slumped over on the controls limp. Shepard, struck with fear, turned and took his right hand off the stick to nudge her.
"Tali? Tali!"
"Caution, enemy detected." chimed the M-44's VI. They were only 20 meters from the outside daylight when a colossus dropped down in front of the vehicle.
"Dammit!" The Spectre tried to hit the Hammerhead's lateral thrusters but it was too late. The colossus raised its two front limbs in the air and slammed down on the vehicle just before impact. The limbs came in behind the seats of Tali and Shepard and pinned the vehicle to the ground. He quickly picked up his unconscious fiance and scooted to the back of the vehicle along with Garrus. As they did the colossus used what leverage it had and ripped the front end of the vehicle off.
"GO!" ordered the Spectre. All five ran out from the broken half of the vehicle directly under the colossus and out the other end with Shepard carrying Tali over his shoulder. As big as it was, by the time the hulking platform was able to turn around, its targets were already running out of the tunnel. Siege pulses from its ocular cannon rained down at their feet as they made their way out of the exit.
"Normandy, we need the shuttle down here now!" the Spectre demanded over his communicator, not bothering to wait for a reply as he lead his team around and under a series of mossy trees. It wasn't long before a dropship flew overhead and dropped a squad of Geth troopers down on their position. Lasers whizzed past them from behind with only a few hitting and being deflected by their kinetic barriers. They came to a clearing a few meters ahead and took cover behind the rubble of what appeared to be a ruined, stone building. The Geth rushed in for an attack with the Colossus following not far behind.
"They're charging, don't give the synthetic bastards an inch!" commanded Reegar over the sound of gunfire. Shepard layed Tali's unconscious body down behind the collapsed pillar with Garrus to his left. He switched his Revenant machine gun to disruptor ammunition and peaked out of cover; downing two Geth troopers with a few bursts. Garrus to made a kill on a Geth hunter trying to flank to their left. Had it not been for its flashlight head giving it away, he would have never saw it on the corner of his Mantis' sniper scope. A quick shot through the optic and it was rendered inoperable.
Two Geth destroyers were the next to threaten their retreat. They sprayed their Firestorm flamethrowers mercilessly, setting the surrounding trees ablaze. Liquid flame splashed down on the pillar in front of the Spectre. The heat nearly seared his eyebrows had he not ducked in time.
Vel who was taking cover behind a large boulder next to Kal, noticed her friends in trouble and popped up to desperately try to stop their advance with a few shots from her Canifex pistol. A few shots flickered off the platforms shields which brought the attention of their flamethrowers down on them. Kal pulled her down just as a blaze flew overhead.
It would be a few minutes before the shuttle would reach them and things were already looking grim. They were being overwhelmed and Tali would not last much longer if continued to be deprived of oxygen. He had to either get her to a clean room quickly, or take her mask off and hope she won't inhale something deadly.
Vel too realized the gravity of the situation. She overlooked the the advancing Geth troops then to Kal when an idea struck her. "Cover me, I need to get Shepard."
"Stay down kid, you don't need to prove anything to me!" retorted Reegar.
"With all due respect sir, I wasn't asking for permission." Vel quickly shot up, keeping her head down as she ran to Shepard behind the pillar.
"Vel! God dammit!" Kal did what he could to cover her, nearly unloading a full clip of his Avenger to make sure she made it. Shepard and Garrus managed to down the destroyers when she dove in next to them. She scooted over to Shepard and lifted her veil back as she removed her suits power cell and handed it to him.
"What the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Shepard.
"I still have a half hour's worth of oxygen reserves. This is our only chance!" Shepard hesitated before taking it from her hand. The Spectre hastily removed the Cain from his back but as he was loading the power cell, he saw a bullet hole in the side of the weapon. The firing mechanism must have been damaged during their retreat. He peaked out and in the distance saw that the Colossus was approaching. He had to act now or it would be too late.
"Garrus, how's your throwing arm?"
"Depends what you need me to throw." the Turian replied as he came back down from a pop-shot. Shepard knew muscled Turian like Garrus could throw farther than him. He reluctantly handed his Turian companion the weapon then turned to address Vel'Lara.
"Vel, can you hack that Prime?" She peaked out of cover to see the exact platform in question before replying.
"Yeah, but what do you have in mind?"
"We're going to play a little hot-potato." he joked before continuing. "Garrus, set the Cain to overload. Vel, as soon as he tosses it, make sure that Prime catches it, then throw it at the Colossus. If we don't take that thing down, the shuttle won't stand a chance at getting us out of here."
"Got it Shepard." nodded Garrus.
"Ready." Vel acknowledged. The Spectre watched as Garrus flipped a few switches and with the press of a button on the weapon, it began to glow as the overload progressed.
"On three..." Vel prepared her omni-tool. "Three!" Garrus used all his might to toss the weapon through the air toward the Prime. Vel hacked it just in time. The unit caught the weapon flawlessly then pivoted its torso and flung it through the air at the marching Colossus still making its way through the trees.
"Down now!" A massive, deafening explosion followed. All five of them were sent flying backwards from the shock wave that emitted from the blast. They hit the ground next to a large tree with Tali, brought to consciousness by the blast, landing on top of Shepard in a straddled position. The Spectre shook off his vertigo spell and stared up at the heavy breathing women on top of him.
"This isn't exactly the time or place Tali." smirked Shepard, trying to lighten the mood. Tali replied in between breaths.
"If I could...stand I'd...kick you...in the quad..." The shuttle hovered down on the charred battlefield littered with Geth parts as she finished. Garrus helped Shepard to his feet and the two carried Tali in between them. Kal came about next to Vel. Rolling on his side to check on her, he noticed she whimpering in pain.
"Vel?"
"I can't...I can't feel my legs!" she began to panic. Kal crawled on his knees over to her and proceeded to roll her over. "Please don't be..." he thought but his fear was confirmed. A large piece of shrapnel was imbedded in her lower spine. She was paralyzed.
"H-How bad is it?" she whimpered.
"It...It's nothing we can't fix." He tried his best to hide the seriousness of her wound. "Come on we're getting out of here." Kal got up and used both arms to carry her; one under he legs with the other under her shoulders. They all boarded the shuttle a moment later.
During the ride up, Shepard took two power cells from the cache inside the shuttle and gave them to Tali and Vel. Tali had passed out from exhaustion after receiving the burst of fresh air. The battle really took a toll on her. Kal was doing his best to attend to Vel as they approached the Normandy in the crimson skies of Ilos. He knew he couldn't remove the shrapnel without risking further damage to her spine. Only Chakwas had the knowledge to operate on her.
The Shuttle entered the Normandy's cargo bay a moment later and the SR-2 flew out of the planets atmosphere.
"More Geth ships have dropped out of FTL. They are on an intercept course." chimed EDI. As if jinxing it, mass accelerator cannons began to ring out all around them. Escape was the only option.
"EDI, get us the hell outta here!" yelled Jeff frantically.
"Specify a destination Jeff."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he exclaimed. A second later he was thrown back in his chair as the ship jumped into FTL. Joker turned to EDI's projection with his arms thrown out and his eyes and mouth wide open as EDI explained.
"That was a joke..."