A/N: Normally I, ah, don't do that, but a quick reply to some of the comments for last chapter. It's missing the point to single out Udina as evil here. One of the major topics of the fic is that the Alliance itself is more evil than good. With that being said, onwards with the story!
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Life aboard the Normandy had been weird the last two days. It was still the same ship and the same crew, but the fact that they were all mutineers now had changed things quite a bit. The atmosphere on board was just not the same anymore. The crew still respected the chain of command, of course, but they were less formal. It seemed a lot of their former military discipline had been replaced by camaraderie instead. Tali thought that this made the ship, in a way, oddly more similar to a Migrant Fleet ship.
Nobody knew quite for sure what would happen now. They all had risked everything in order to stop Saren. There was an aura of uncertainty everywhere on the ship. People went about their work, but not with the same routine anymore. They questioned their every move. Technically, after all, they were now all traitors. And unsurprisingly the talk between crew members knew no other topic. In short, the Normandy crew was doubtful and nervous, quite a difference to the splendid professionalism they had usually displayed so far.
There also was another side to that: The crew, having risked everything for the sake of Shepard's mission, felt now more entitled to criticize him. They had followed him because they knew Saren was a threat to the entire galaxy, and not so much out of personal sympathy for him. The whole affair with Burns and BAaT, where Shepard had taken an Alliance MP prisoner to get access to sensible data which he then had leaked to asari media, creating quite many troubles for the Alliance - many in the crew resented him for that. Some few thought him a hero for having exposed the Alliance's crime, but they were clearly a minority. On the whole, the crew had taken part in the mutiny in order to stop Saren, and so they now felt emboldened to criticize Shepard.
This was made worse by the fact that Shepard was no longer Commander - the Normandy had intercepted a navy announcement some hours ago stating that Shepard had been dishonourably suspended from service. Oddly enough, Shepard had reacted very cool to that - but then, de facto it was him who had left the Navy, in a very dramatic display to Ambassador Udina.
In fact, in response to his suspension, Shepard had dealt a parting shot to the Alliance: In addition to all the material he already had published anyway, he now also had sent additional records to his contacts in the asari media - records about how the Alliance had tried to suppress the ExoGeni trial and how the Navy had even ordered Shepard's crew to release Jeong. Records about how the Alliance had most likely deliberately established an AI on its Luna training facility. And records about Cerberus, what it had done, how it used to be an Alliance SpecOps unit, and how they still seemed to hold influence in the Alliance, material so far held back by the Council (though out of consideration to the Council Shepard did not publish the existence of living rachni). Stilll, revealing all this will only further heat up tensions.
And this is not the only problem, Tali knew. The crew was eager to get to Saren, but the ship's actual next destination was Noveria, where shortly before Saren's main ally, Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother, had arrived. The crew doesn't like that detour.
As for herself, Tali was quite nervous, too. Nervous and excited. Since she was not part of the Systems Alliance Navy she was not a mutineer, but she had helped to steal the Normandy. The thought of herself as a shipjacker was something entirely new. Normally that was the sense of the pilgrimage, to experience new things, but Tali was fairly certain that stealing ships was not supposed to be part of that experience. However, she had also wondered if she should not treat it like a sort of big adventure. After all, most likely the Normandy could deal with anything she could encounter, and outrun any chasing ships.
Besides, Shepard had brought them through all trouble so far. She had no doubt he would do so again. Either way, as always she would contribute her best to make everything work. In fact, she was currently in the middle of a double shift. A double shift of boring routine maintenance tasks, to be exact. At the moment she was headed upwards to the crew deck, to get some food, and maybe find somebody for a quick chat in the break between the shifts. As it happened, she found just about the entire squad already sitting at the mess table, except Liara.
It was Ashley who spotted her first. "Ah, Tali," she greeted her, "Finally taking a break?"
The others turned their heads to her, and Shepard smiled. "It's necessary from time to time," Tali replied. Others made place for her to get seated next to Shepard, which she did. She got a nutrients tube from out of one of her envirousit's pockets and asked: "What were you talking about?"
"Our situation," Shepard replied vaguely, "In general." He watched her sitting down, laid an arm around her and stroke her side as a sign of affection, to then turn his attention again to the as usual plentiful plate of food in front of him.
He wore a civilian outfit, something Tali still needed to get used to. Even in his free time he so far always seemed to have worn a uniform. Thus it was no surprise that his collection of civilian clothes was small and outdated: He wore what Tali had heard Ashley calling a "colonist outfit", including a leather vest and leather trousers. The Gunnery Chief had chuckled about it - it seemed to be clothing more belonging to the generation of her father than to Shepard's and hers.
However, Shepard just would not wear the uniform anymore. He had not done so since their hasty departure from the citadel. He was well and truly done with the Alliance. And even though he had been a member of the navy for eleven years he seemed very glad about that - as far as Tali could see, he felt almost liberated. He never had been very enthusiastic about the Alliance in the first place, but now he held only disdain for it anymore.
"In fact, we only just started talking about it," Garrus corrected the Spectre, "And I still can't believe we stole the Normandy."
"It's Shepard you're talking about," Wrex pointed out. "Are you worried, turian?"
Wrex had opened up enough in his time on the ship, and people had become accustomed enough to his expressions that it was clear the krogan had just friendly prodded Garrus. However, the former cop replied very seriously: "No. Not really. I know what's at stake. I've heard Sovereign talk. The consequences of stealing the ship will be far less than the consequences if we fail to stop Saren. I just never thought I'd be ship a hijacker."
"Hijackers, mutineers, fugitives from the law," Tali picked up the line of thought. "Very exciting. I wonder what the Alliance would do if we were caught?"
"Hey now, you know the Normandy in and out," Shepard answered, "No other ship could detect and catch us."
That was what Tali had thought herself already, but Shepard had said it with more conviction than she actually felt. "I hope you're right."
"Besides, your father probably has some political pull, right?" Ashley added, "He wouldn't let them throw his little girl in jail."
That made Tali laugh. "You don't know my father. Stealing ships is a capital offence among my people. He'd probably want to execute us himself."
"We got bigger problems than your father," Wrex pointed out, "Like Saren and the Reapers."
"You know, that doesn't actually make me feel better," Tali replied in friendly sarcasm.
"I know what Garrus means, though," Ashely stated pensively, "Not just any ship, too. An Alliance warship. And I helped steal it! Had anybody told me that half a year ago I'd - it wouldn't have ended pretty."
"Stealing an Alliance warship is risky stuff," Wrex agreed. "But the prize... The prize may make it worthwhile. I'm right behind you, Shepard. It's the least I can do."
"We all are," Ashely confirmed, "Much as you can be a pain in the ass, skipper, you're very much preferable to Saren."
"Good to see not everybody considers me crazy," Shepard answered with a smile. He sounded genuinely grateful about it.
"Sometimes crazy is the right way to go," Wrex said. "Now we just need to catch Saren before they catch us."
"Which is why I don't understand why we go to Noveria!" Ashley argued, "We know where Saren is, we can follow him right behind! So why not do so?"
"We need to catch Matriarch Benezia," Garrus pointed out matter-of-factly.
"She's not as important as Saren," Ashley disagreed.
"No," Shepard conceded, "But her information could be. Think about it - the trip to Ilos will take months. And you want to take it blind, basically? After months chasing through the Terminus Systems we'll need every bit of information we can get."
"Besides, if we don't clean up here first, and allow Benezia to escape, she might just continue Saren's work," Garrus added.
"Not if we find the Conduit first," Ashley argued.
"So far we don't even know what the Conduit is!" Shepard pointed out. "Not even Liara does. Which is why we need to get her mother."
"I suppose," Ashley admitted. She sighed. "Poor girl, though. Liara, I mean. We're setting out to capture her mother. Can't be easy on her."
"She's withdrawn completely into her room behind the medbay," Shepard reported, "I can't fault her, I think she's very nervous."
"The whole situation can't be easy for her," Tali commented. "Her mother is a traitor, while she is hunted by Saren. At least I know I always have a home to return to." She looked to Shepard with a tilted head, who quickly squeezed her hand under the table in response. "If need be, that is." For now she was content enough where she was. "I wouldn't know what to do if I found out my father was a traitor."
"Yeah," Ashley agreed, "I know what you mean."
"I don't think Benezia is a traitor," Shepard pointed out. "After Virmire I think we can pretty much guess what happened to her."
"Indoctrination," Garrus said, "Well, whatever it is, at least we got her now."
"On Noveria, of all places. I mean, as we expected, but that planet technically isn't even part of Citadel space," Shepard complained.
"Your legal immunity as a Spectre is still respected there," Garrus pointed out.
"Yeah, but only per special agreement between Council and Noveria's corporate board," Shepard said, "So I tell you, this will still cause trouble. Just watch."
"The crew won't like it at all," Ashley commented, "They followed you so we can catch Saren. Most of them - well, sorry, skipper, most of them dislike you for what you did, and only took part in the mutiny for that one reason."
"I know. Still, it's the best strategy," Shepard claimed. He paused for a while, and then asked: "What about you, Ashley? Where do you stand in all of this?"
"I'm not sure," Ashley admitted, "We're mutineers now, yes, but - You brought up some quite heavy points against the Alliance. I can't just turn a blind eye to it anymore. Maybe you were right - maybe the Alliance isn't good enough for me, instead of the other way round. Just as it wasn't good enough for grandfather's service. But it just feels weird thinking that way."
"I'm not asking you to throw away all your convictions," Shepard stated.
Ashley laughed, but it was a very sour laugh. "Actually, you do," she disagreed, "and you don't even notice. But I'm a big girl, so I'll get over my brooding and indecisiveness. Doesn't fit me, anyway, so don't be worried. No matter what, I'll be behind you. And the crew won't just abandon you, either."
"Thanks, Ashley," Shepard replied sincerely.
The conversation entered a slight lull. Tali wondered what she would do if she were to find out the Admiralty Board had done similar things than what Shepard had exposed about the Alliance. Before she had set out to her pilgrimage this would have been no question - she would have helped hush everything up. Because the duty to her people came above any individuals, and the Admiralty Board led her people. However, nowadays she was not so sure anymore how she would react. Shepard had a point: If people demand sacrifices, they can sacrifice themselves, instead of others. The problem was just that with such an attitude soon nobody would sacrifice anything anymore to the greater good. Besides, there simply was not much room for so much individuality on the Migrant Fleet. For humanity, though, it was probably different.
Finally, Garrus ended the silence and spoke up again: "Jonathan, if I may ask, what are you going to do about our supply situation?"
That was a problem, as Tali knew. She even considered that to be their main problem. The Normandy was strong, fast or stealthy enough to deal with anything they might encounter in the Terminus Systems or elsewhere, and if they could capture Benezia then they could probably gather enough information to deal with Saren. However that all would be moot if the reactor fuel, the replacement parts or even food and water were to run out - and that was a very tangible prospect. As they had not been able to resupply on the Citadel, fuel and food would run out in just a bit more than a week.
Thus, it was only appropriate that Shepard sighed in response. "It's a problem," he admitted, "I'm trying to drum up some support, but as was pointed out, we are fugitives, so it's not easy. One more reason to go to Noveria, hopefully that gives me some time. But might well be we end up starved of supplies."
"With you, everything is possible," Wrex joked (or so Tali assumed), "But you get us through, Shepard."
That much was true, as far as Tali was concerned. She focused on him and added softly: "You always have."
Shepard grinned and drew her closer to him, allowing her to lean her back against his side and snuggle up to him. She could hear Ashley muttering under her breath: "Oh get a room, you two," but it sounded much more amused than actually annoyed. If only getting a normal room was sufficient. She thought of the items she had purchased practically at the very last minute on the Citadel.
Shepard just grinned about the comment. After a while he spoke up again "You know, is it bad that I actually enjoy our current state? I mean, with the ship and everything. No compromises anymore, no arguments with Udina or Alliance Command..."
"You always had a megalomaniac streak," Ashley commented dryly. And added deliberately late: "Skipper."
"It's not like you've followed Udina or Alliance Command before," Tali pointed out amused.
"Touché," Shepard conceded.
"It's a reason we should hurry at Noveria, though," Garrus stated more seriously. "The corporations won't care that the Alliance considers you rogue, but if Alliance ships catch up to us there they'll surely hand us over."
"True," Shepad agreed. "It seems I'll have to make maximal use of my Spectre powers. Bludgeon my way through."
That reminded Tali of a thought she had thought of earlier: "It's odd that the Council didn't rescind your Spectre status."
"I've wondered that myself," Shepard said, "There was no message from them about it, nothing in the news. I'm officially still a Spectre."
"Jon, you're under too much stress," Garrus stated, sounding deliberately patient. "Normally you'd be the first to see the reason. The Council can't send a ship into the Terminus, and the excuse of a commander acting on his own doesn't cut it, either - or at least, normally it doesn't."
"Plausible deniability," Shepard concluded. "Hm, could be. News about my, ah, split with the Alliance surely have reached the Terminus warlords by now, making it plain I don't act on its or the Council's behalf. So the whole situation may be entirely to the Council's liking actually."
"And they had coordinated matters with Udina," Ashley added. "Makes you wonder..."
"If they've engineered all this?" Shepard continued her thought. "Maybe. Who can say? I don't like being a tool, but if it allows us to catch Saren..."
"Yeah, I know," Ashley agreed. "Well, we better get ready for whatever we might encounter on Noveria. And since rifles still don't clean themselves, I better should go and do so."
"And I should get back to my work down in Engineering," Tali added. Truth be told, that had been quite a longer chat then she had planned, so she hurriedly sat up and followed Ashley.
Despite her delay, Tali decided for once not to feel bad about it. In the chaos of the mutiny and flight from the Citadel she had barely been able to speak with the others at all. It was good that she had now been able to do so.
She caught up to Ashley on the stairs to the command deck, from which the two stepped into the elevator leading down to the cargo bay. When they had, the Gunnery Chief remarked: "You and Jon seemed happy."
"We are," Tali confirmed, but added with some delay: "As much as circumstances allow, anyway." No secrets between shipmates.
"Yeah, I'm sure it must be weird," Ashley commented. An awkward pause ensued, during which the elevator reached the cargo bay and the two women stepped out of it. Ashley spoke up again: "Look. I won't say anything... that is, you're both adults, it's your decision. But I know it isn't easy, and if this ends up hurting Jon..."
"That's what I fear, too," Tali replied matter-of-factly. It was.
"What?" Ashley asked surprised.
"I told him that maybe he should go looking for easier relationships," Tali explained. "He disagreed. Not that I complain... but I'm still worried."
"I see," Ashley answered. "Good, because I fully intent to give him the same warning. Maybe even a bit harsher. I must say, you both seem a bit crazy to me."
"Maybe we are," Tali conceded "You've heard Wrex: Sometimes crazy is the best way to go."
"Jon certainly seems to live by that principle," Ashley commented.
"Which just further proves Wrex' point," Tali stated cheerfully, "See you later then, and take good care of our rifles."
She turned to go, but stopped when Ashley called out: "Tali..."She seemed to fiddle with finding the right words and finally said in a softer tone: "I just wanna say... well, good luck to the both of you."
Tali nodded in acknowledgement and went down the ramp to Engineering.
…...
The first thing Tali noted as she stepped outside the Normandy was that Noveria was a cold planet. She realized that if she could tell so despite her envirosuit, that meant Noveria was really cold. She pitied Garrus who stood right next to her - turians, as a race, were more heat affine and less protected against cold than most other races in the galaxy.
The climate was not the only hostile thing about Noveria. She had observed that when the Normandy had requested an approach vector to Port Hannshan's space port. All the time orbital weapons had aimed at the ship, even after its identification. It was clear that the powers that be here did not like them, and had only allowed them in at all due to Shepard's Spectre authority, something they were obliged to respect by contract with the Citadel.
For that reason, to be secure on the planet, Shepard had assembled all of the surviving 'standard squad' - Ashley, Wrex, Garrus, Tali and Liara. Especially Liara - she would be important in confronting her mother. Hopefully we don't need to useviolence against Benezia. I hope Liara won't be forced to fight her own mother. However, Tali was doubtful about that prospect. Liara, in any case, appeared utterly nervous, even desperate. Nobody commented on it, though - they all could understand her.
Shepard gave the squad an affirming nod, and they all set in motion. Normandy's dock was an inside dock, surrounded by dull, grey walls. The squad went along those on their way to the city proper. However, after walking through a frame, they were stopped. A group of armed people stood in front of them, two human women and a handful of turians. They all were uniformly armoured. Security guards, Tali realized.
"That's far enough," one of the women called out to them. She had black hair, while the other one had yellow hair.
"What do you want?" Shepard called back. Tali noticed how near his hand was to his pistol holster. She readied herself for a violent confrontation.
"This is an unscheduled arrival," the woman explained. "We need your credentials."
Shepard smirked. "Oh come on, I'm sure you know who I am. My face was on the news often enough in recent times."
"We know what you did alright," the yellow haired women said aggressively, "Don't think you can pull the same shit here, Shepard."
"While we do know who you are, Spectre Shepard," the blackhaired woman stated, ignoring her colleague, "We need to officially register you with the local systems. That's the only way we can grant you your Spectre authority here."
"Alright, fair enough," Shepard answered unsurely.
"This process will take some time," the black haired woman continued, causing Ashley to mutter about how this all is a deliberate delay process. "Also I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria." She turned towards the yellow haired woman. "Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."
In one smooth movement Shepard and his entire squad had drawn their weapons and aimed them at the security guards, who copied the move without delay.
"Back away nice and slow," Ashley advised them.
"I'm a Spectre," Shepard pointed out. "With full Spectre authority also on this planet. I'm allowed to carry guns where ever I damn well please."
"This is not for me to decide," the black haired woman replied. "I'm sure this can all be cleared up - in time. For now, though we must secure your weapons."
"Inacceptable," Shepard said. "I don't have the time." That much was true. If the Alliance found out the Normandy was here and send ships, then they would be trapped here. Speed was of the essence, and as Shepard had said that meant bludgeoning one's way through, if need be.
In response, the woman simply ordered decisively: "Charge and lock! We are authorized to use lethal force. You have to the count of three to surrender your weapons."
Tali knew what that meant. The violent escalation had just become inevitable. Jon always shoots first.
"One..." the woman began, but that was not what Tali was focused on. Instead she intensely watched Shepard's hand - until it gave the signal. The squad began to fire. And the security forces began to return the fire.
While still upholding fire, Tali jumped to the sides of the frame they had just been passed through, diving for cover. There was precisely few of that. Neither the security guards nor most of the squad had any protection what so ever - and that in a firefight at a range of six metres or less. Tali saw one of the turian guards going down. Soon afterwards, she heard a cry to her side and saw Garrus falling to the ground. And the fire exchange did not slow down.
Suddenly, a voice boomed through loudspeakers, so loud that Tali did not only hear it, but also felt its vibrations: "Captain Matsuo, stand down. Mr Shepard, stop firing!"
Tali did just that. More out of shock than anything else. And it seemed the same was true for every other combatant.
"Spectres are authorized to carry weapons on Noveria," the voice announced, now with the loudspeakers on a much lower setting. "Everybody, please remain where you are, emergency medics are en route."
"They hit Marus!" Stirling complained, "They attacked the law!"
However, before she could say anything more, or do something unwise, Matsuo intervened: "Sergeant Stirling, you heard the orders: Stand down!" And with a disgruntled, muttered "Yes, ma'am," Stirling did.
Both sides already tended to their wounded, as far as medi-gel allowed. It was Liara who had been quickest at Garrus's side and now was applying the gel. The rest of the squad just waited. Hostile glares were exchanged with the security guards, but fortunately no further bullets. Moments later, medics from the Normandy arrived and helped Garrus back onto the ship.
"Ah, shot down by private security forces," the turian lamented, half joking and half serious, "Not quite as glorious as meeting Benezia's goons in battle."
"You just take care that you get healed properly now," Shepard answered surprisingly seriously.
Some minutes full of tension after that, a mixed group of humans and salarians came rushing in. Most of them seemed to be medics, judging by their uniforms, but they were led by a dark skinned human woman in a tight, long, red dress. The medics immediately went for the wounded turian guard, while the woman headed straight for Shepard.
"I'm Giana Parasini", the woman introduced herself, "Assistent to Administrator Anoleis. Mr Shepard, your troubles with the Alliance are not our concern, but you have initiated aggression against Noverian security forces."
Tali noticed Parasini's address of Shepard. With Shepard suspended from the Navy it was correct, but she was amazed how quickly word it seemed to have travelled.
"They made their intention to use lethal force quite clear," Shepard answered the accusation unmoved, "To enforce something they had no right to. As a Spectre I am authorized to carry weapons - and if need be, also to use them."
Tali knew Shepard was just acting the part. He was nowhere near as comfortable with using his Spectre powers. However, they simply did not have the time to stop for such discussions, hence Shepard would not allow himself to display any doubts about his actions
"Correct," Parasini conceded, "but it won't make whatever work you may have here on Noveria any easier for you. I hope that from now on you and Noveria will be a bit more cooperative."
"I surely hope so, too," Shepard agreed.
"In that case, welcome to Port Hanshan," Parasini greeted them, sounding suddenly much less harsh. "One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Please, let me accompany you into the port area. Do you have any questions?"
Tali was surprised by the sudden change of demeanour. She shot a quick glance to Shepard, whose eyes where narrowed. He seemed to have noticed it, too. Following Parasini away from the docking bay, he rubbed his chin pensively and then asked: "Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?"
"Unusual?" Parasini echoed the question. She walked slowly, seemingly rather unaccustomed to the dress. "An asari matriarch passed through here a few days ago. Lady Benezia. She came together with a security entourage of asari commandos and several crates of cargo."
"So Benezia is indeed here," Liara almost whispered, voicing everybody's thoughts. For her it meant much more than for the others, though.
"Where is she now?" Shepard asked.
"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex two days ago," Parasini answered. "To the best of my knowledge, she's still there. If you want to go there, you'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port. I can lead you to him."
And so she did. She engaged in self-laudatory proclamations about the value of Noveria to the galactic community and to science, but Tali was not really listening to the details. The essence was that Noveria was a corporate planet through and through. Law was what the Executive Board said was law. And the Executive Board in turn seemed to be filled with representation of the major megacorps backing Noveria. In other words, just the sort of people Shepard loathed and detested. This is problematic.
To Tali's surprise, the ante room to the office of the Adminsitrator was just as grey and undecorated as the rest of what they had seen of Port Hanshan so far. There was nothing indicating that they were entering the political centre of Noveria's de facto capital. Parasini told the the squad to wait there, while she led Shepard to the Anoleis' office.
When she returned she tried several times to get a conversation going, but without success. Nobody in the squad particularly liked being here, not after the reception they had arrived in the docking bay. They all just waited for Shepard to come out again.
When he did, Tali immediately noticed that the talk had not gone well. His steps were wide, decisive and angry. "Come on," he said to the squad without stopping, "We won't find any help here."
"What happened, skipper?" Ashley asked.
Shepard, who had already passed by her, stopped and turned around. "Benezia is here quite openly as Saren's executor, to solve some problem in the Peak 15 facility. Anoleis doesn't care at all that Saren is a traitor. Says that Noveria is after all not part of Citadel jurisdiction. And Saren's attack on Eden Prime - not his concern." He breathed out angrily. "Fucking megacorps. Saren is a major investor in Binary Helix, and Binary Helix is a major backer of Noveria, so Anoleis is even covering for him. The damn salarian made it quite clear that there is no way to get to Peak 15. Said both surface and air contact are cut off." He shook his head. "Why the Citadel continues to allow this travesty of a colony to exist I don't know."
"Do you know how valuable Noveria is?" Parasini chimed in in response, "How many advantages in genetic engineering and synthetic int..."
"Oh, can it," Shepard cut her off and set to go again.
However, Parasini stopped him: "Wait, Mr Shepard. Please." And when Shepard did, she added almost whispering: "Anoleis is not the only one who can get you out of here."
"You can?" Shepard asked.
"No," Parasini admitted. "What you need is a garage pass. Once you're in the garage, you can leave Port Hanshan without problem, official clearance or not. And as it so happens, Administrator Anoleis is not the only person with such a pass."
"It sounds like you have something in mind," Shepard remarked.
"I can't tell you too much so close in earshot to Anoleis," Parasini said, "But you could talk to Lorik Qui'in of Synthetic Insights. His offices have recently been ransacked by security forces under Anoleis' orders, so he is not well disposed towards the Administrator."
"Unwell enough to help me?" Shepard asked.
"Probably not without a bit of quid pro quo," Parasini admitted. "We're on Noveria, Mr Shepard, so you would do well to get used the rules of the game here. Which includes intrigue and all the other social niceties."
"I... understand," Shepard answered unsurely.
"Qui'in is in the hotel lounge," Parasini explained. "Good luck, Mr Shepard."
"Come on then people," Shepard wrapped the conversation up. "We don't have much time, nothing has changed about that."
It soon became clear that Shepard was not walking in the direction Parasini had given them. However, before Tali could ask him what he had planned, he called the Normandy and ordered Pressly to take off, activate stealth, and then return into Noveria's high orbit, preferably over Peak 15.
As soon as he had finished the call, Ashley blurted out: "Why that order?"
"To prevent the Normandy from being caught on the ground," Shepard explained. "Look, you've heard Parasini. For her it's all just a game of corporate intrigue. Probably the same reason she conspires against her own boss with us, hell, probably the reasons he suddenly was so friendly - she sees convenient tools in us. But personally, I have no intent to get involved in the mess of corporate politics. Not one bit. We just don't have the time for that!"
"So we use brute force," Wrex concluded.
"Perceptive," Shepard lauded the krogan with a grin. "And when that happens the Normandy must already be comfortably far away."
"How do we get onto her again then?" Ashley asked.
"We'll cross that bridge as soon as we reach it," Shepard answered. "For now, let's go to he garage."
The way towards it could be quickly queried in the local communication net. It was a rather long-winded path full of corners and stairs. At its end they came close to a door with a single guard in front of it; human, fully armoured, female and of somewhat small stature.
Shepard raised his hand to get his people to stop. "Just one guard," he observed quietly. "Right. Tali, do you think you can beat the lock?"
"I can't be sure without having seen it," Tali replied, "but I did some cursory intrusions into the local systems here. If the lock has the same kind of security it should be no problem." Humorously she added: "Garrus managed to upload his spy programs into those systems, so how difficult can it be?"
Shepard did not respond to the humour. Instead, he was fully concentrated on the task ahead. "Ashley, Wrex, guard the corridor. Tali, keep yourself ready. Liara, with me, back me up if the guard becomes too much trouble."
And here we go again. Tali readied herself.
Shepard walked up to the guard, who announced nervously: "A-access to the garage is restricted."
"Ah, sorry," Shepard replied, "I didn't know where this corridor led to. Say, can you tell me where those things are, you know..."
"What do you mean?" the guard asked.
"You know, when you need to - " He ended abruptly and rammed his right forearm into the guard's neck. Immediately afterwards, his leg swept away hers, causing her to fall down. Shepard went down on his knees, using one hand to keep the guard subdued and the other to draw his pistol. "Quiet, now," he threatened.
Without delay, Tali rushed into action and began to hack the electronic lock of the door.
"I... I can't..." the guard began.
"Don't try heroics," Shepard advised her, sounding oddly friendly, while taking away her gun "You won't be able to stop us either way, and I hope I can pull this off without shedding blood."
"Big chance," Wrex remarked. "You should just kill any witnesses."
"'Ah...I'll be quiet," the guard announced.
"Wise girl," Shepard commented. "Tali, how are you coming along?"
"Better if you didn't disturb me," Tali hissed back, too caught up in her work to notice her tone. Come on... - the system felt in line. The door opened.
"Let's go!" Liara exclaimed. The squad did not need to be told twice. Shepard pushed the disarmed guard up again, and dragged her with him.
What everybody had called the 'garage' seemed to also double as a cargo hub. It sported several transport conveyors, and was full of standard cargo boxes and other equipment lying around. But it did indeed also contain several ground vehicles. It was a fairly large place, all in all.
"I can't believe it!" Ashley shouted and pointed towards one of the vehicles. "Wherever we go we find Makos!"
There was some truth to that. They already had found and used a colony-owned Mako on Feros and now here on Noveria they found one one too: Parked on the other end of the garage, among other vehicles, there was it, looking no different to the one the Normandy had lost on Virmire.
"Well, that settles the question which car to take," Shepard commented. He turned to the captured guard: "I'll regret that, I know, but you're free to go. Get out of..."
But before he could finish or actually release her, a mechanical sound caught everybody's attention.
"What is that...?" Ashley muttered. A further sound, all too familiar, answered the question: The distinctive cackling of geth platforms.
"Shit!" Ashley blurted out. Everybody drew their weapons. Apparently unwilling to trust Shepard's word and realizing her chance, the guard used this to free herself of Shepard's grab and ran away. She did not come far: A hail of geth bullets gunned her down.
Tali was shocked. A shout reached her ear: "Over there, to there!" Experienced and drilled as she was by the battles so far, she recognized and followed Shepard's voice without delay. The Spectre pointed and ran towards an area full of crates. Tali understood: An impromptu fortress.
Tali ran as fast as she could, while the geth still focused on the poor security guard. "The content of Benezia crates," Wrex grumpily commented the situation while running. Once she had reached the crates, immediately the geth onslaught against them began. The enemy seemed to be everywhere: Geth Troopers in front of the crates, Geth Hoppers above them. Tali's shotgun remained constantly in movement, but she just could not cover everything with her weapon.
Bullets came soon flying from every direction. Tali saw Wrex standing upright and basically holding one flank all by himself, but even was slowly pushed back. She pressed herself as tightly against a crate as she could. Enemy shots passed her in less than a hand span's distance, but she just could pay it no heed. She had the means to sabotage the geth - if she was not shot in the process. Hastily she began working on her omni-tool.
Should have prepared it already. But who could have known we'd meet geth already here? Ancestors damn it, work, damn tool!
She had no time to supervise the effects of her hacking attempts. She concentrated on sabotaging the enemy weapons, as the squad was too hard pressed to attempt more sophisticated maneuvers. However, enemy fire did not seem to be lessening.
"What the..." she muttered.
"It's working, Tali," Shepard shouted. He must have heard her. "But there are ever more platforms arriving here!"
Tali looked around. Ashley was just dropping her overheated Kovalyov rifle and drew a pistol to defend herself. Wrex was even using his rifle as a club against two platforms cornering him - but that at least with great success. Shepard and Liara were standing back to back, trying in vain to use their biotic powers to stem the tide of geth.
And suddenly, the geth paused.
"What the... What are these things?" A human female voice, shouting. "Fan out and put them down! None of them may leave the garage!" Captain Matsuo!
Tali assumed the security guards of Elanus Risk Control Services must finally have arrived in force. She did not look, though - while she and the rest of the squad weremerely surprised, the geth seemed to be utterly dumbstruck by the arrival of a new enemy. Their neural network is overextended. And while the platforms still moved sluggishly, Tali used this to fire at them without thought of cover or care for overheating her gun.
Finally, the geth moved again - towards the garage door from where the ERCS guards came pouring in.
"Grab your gear and run towards the Mako while they're distracted!" Shepard shouted.
"The guards..." Liara protested.
"Would try to stop us, too," Shepard shouted back, "Let them and the geth occupy each other."
When Tali arrived at the Mako, everybody else already was there, waiting for her to crack its lock. Nervously, she began to work on it. It took her three attempts before the door finally, finally opened. Fortunately, the Mako carried a command code to open the external garage door - and before it was even only half open, the squad's newly acquired vehicle darted outside, away from geth and guards and into the perilous snow storms of Noveria.