The Cryonic Man
Shepard Interlude 2: Haestrom
A bit of foreword
This is my first story so please no flames.
I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).
I do however claim ownership of the characters I create
This will probably be terrible and short, but to advance the actual story of this fic, I need to do this part of the game. (What, did you think all that stuff about conspiracies was the main story?)
The Citadel
"How dare they do that," said Leonidas.
"This is a betrayal of the highest order, how dare they blackmail you into slandering Shepard," said Anderson.
"I have to show the universe how corrupt those two truly are," said Kaidan.
"Councilor, will you agree to help us," said Anderson.
The salarian councilor (AKA Leonidas) sighed and said, "I've been working with those two for several years; those two have been good friends to me throughout most of them. But…Shepard saved my life during the Battle of the Citadel just as he saved the other 20,000 civilians on the Destiny Ascension. The galaxy has been putting down humans ever since they joined the galactic public and yet when Shepard had the opportunity to give us what we deserved, he still sacrificed human lives to save ours. I owe him my life and so do those two, which they seem to have forgotten, and I need to make up for not speaking my mind for the last two years. I'm with the two of you, Jalik and Mencia need to be exposed for the conniving traitors they are."
"We're gonna have to keep this quiet, no one can know about this, especially Udina and the rest of the Council," said Anderson, "Is there anyone who knows about this besides us?"
"Just Shepard, Tali, Garrus, Liara, Joker, Wrex, and Doctor Chakwas. Admiral Hackett knows as well, and he's agreed to help us," said Kaidan.
"Remember gentlemen, once we start this there's no going back, so if any of you still have any doubts, it's best if you leave and forget this conversation ever happen," said Anderson.
"I'm not leaving," said Kaidan with conviction.
"Those two need to be stopped, the others trust me so I will get you any information I can," said Leonidas.
"Alright gentlemen, let's start planning," said Anderson.
An investigation into corruption leads to a conspiracy that no one could have possibly imagined. Who is working with the Collectors? Who is working with Cerberus? Or could someone be possibly working with for something even worse? To be continued in Mass Effect: Investigation
The Normandy
"So the Councilors blackmailed Kaidan," said Tali over the holo-messenger.
"Yeah, apparently my warnings have been causing unrest in the galactic republic. They needed to find a way to calm them down so they forced Kaidan to testify that my warnings were nothing but a product of stress," said Shepard.
"How can you believe him after what he did," said Tali.
"That was my reaction too Tali, but I wouldn't put this past them. He was saving my ass, as well as yours and Liara's, he had good reasons for doing what he did," said Garrus.
Tali sighed and said, "I'm still not sure, but I trust the two of you. If Kaidan really helps Anderson, Admiral Hackett, and the salarian councilor nail those two bosh'tets, I'll forgive him. Now Garrus, can you leave for a moment, I need to speak to Shepard privately."
Garrus let out a chuckle and said, "Alright, I'll get out of the hairs of you two lovebirds."
He left the room and Shepard turned back towards the holo-messenger and said, "How are things going on your mission?"
"Really boring, Keelah I wish I could just finish this and be there with you," said Tali.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're going to be finished very soon. I can't wait to have you here with me," said Shepard.
"Yeah," said Tali, blushing under her mask.
Meanwhile on Haestrom
"The weirdest thing is that the sun on this planet is aging faster than most stars, it may even go supernova in a few months even though the star itself isn't that old," said Tali.
"That is weird," said Shepard.
They continued talking until Tali heard a large explosion coming from outside the facility.
"What the," said Tali.
"Ma'am, we got geth platoons heading our way, you need to get to the checkpoint," yelled Kal'Reegar over the comm-link.
"Tali, what's happening," said Shepard over the holo-messenger.
"We're being attacked by a geth patrol," said Tali, "Sorry, but I have to go."
Tali then shut off the holo-messenger and ran for the door.
Back on the Normandy
"Tali, Tali," yelled Shepard.
He then ran out of his room, finding Garrus trying to listen in to the conversation.
"Oh, uh, Shepard, I was just leaving," said Garrus.
"No time, Tali's being attacked by geth on Haestrom," said Shepard.
"What," yelled Garrus.
"Joker, we need to get Haestrom now," said Shepard.
"On it Commander," said Joker over the intercom.
Later on Haestrom
The Kodiak touched down and Shepard, Garrus, and Jack moved out onto the surface of the planet.
"Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins. There is considerable geth activity and an environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields," said EDI.
"Good to know," said Garrus.
"Alright, let's go so Shepard can do his knight in shining armor routine for his girlfriend," said Jack.
The group headed off until they walked out of the shade.
Garrus sniffed the air and said, "Hey, either of you smell something burning?"
"Oh f*%k, oh s#$& this hurts," said Jack.
"Let's run," said Shepard.
The group ran into another shady spot and patted themselves down.
"I hate this planet already," said Jack.
"That's what you get for wearing a small jacket instead of armor," said Garrus.
"F*$k off Vakarian," said Jack.
"Shut up both of you," said Shepard.
The two came to a red gate where Shepard saw a small building.
"Hang on, let me check this out," said Shepard running into the building, finding a disabled geth, a small console, and a research log. He walked over to the console and activated the unlocking mechanism on the gate, only to hear blaster fire coming from outside.
Shepard ran outside to see Garrus and Jack hiding in cover and facing off with some geth patrols.
"Incoming drop-ship," said Garrus.
"Ah, I miss fighting geth, don't you," said Garrus, as Shepard ran into cover.
"Yeah, it's been too long fellas, have you missed us," said Shepard, popping out of cover and firing his assault rifle.
Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle and opened fire on the geth, whereas Jack knocked some of them back with a biotic shockwave.
"Another one down, how many have you gotten Shepard," said Garrus.
"About two hundred more than you've gotten," said Shepard.
"Is everything a competition for you two idiots," said Jack, firing her pistol at another geth.
"You have no idea," said Garrus.
They moved forward, killing the hordes that came their way.
"We need to find an alternate path, we're roasting out here," said Garrus.
"Just stick to the shade as best you can," yelled Shepard.
"Yeah, no s*$t," said Jack.
An explosion was heard and Shepard yelled, "Rocket troopers, get down!"
Both he and Garrus pulled out their assault rifles and gunned them down.
"Yeah," yelled Garrus.
"Garrus get down," yelled Shepard, but it was too late, and Garrus was blasted back by a rocket and out of the shade.
"Jack, get Garrus out of the sun," said Shepard.
"On it," said Jack.
Jack quickly moved from cover while Shepard providing cover fire. Jack pulled Garrus into the shade and Shepard took out the last rocket trooper.
"You alright buddy," said Shepard, standing over his friend.
"Yeah, just a little shaken," said Garrus, standing back up.
"Okay let's go," said Shepard, and the group continued on.
They saw a group of geth firing on some target, and quickly took them out, grabbing the Tempest SMG.
"Help…Help please," they heard someone weakly say.
Shepard turned and found a quarian marine bleeding out.
"Oh my god, hang on I have some medi-gel," said Shepard.
"No, Tali'Zorah and her data are more important, you need to find her," said the marine, before falling down dead.
"Shepard, Tali could be anywhere, how are we gonna find her," said Garrus.
"Hello, calling all units, this is squad leader Kal'Reegar, is there anyone still out there," said a small communicator on the marine.
Shepard picked up the communicator and said, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, I'm afraid most of your troops are dead."
"Damn. Wait, Shepard? The Spectre Tali worked with? Don't know why you're here, but right now any organic is a welcome sight," said the communicator.
"Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta," said the communicator.
Shepard and the others quickly did so and Shepard said, "Do you need assistance?"
"I'm fine, this was supposed to be a stealth mission so we have no clue how the geth found us. The damn solar radiation is blocking all attempts transmit data and we can't get to our ship because the damn geth have got us pinned down," said Kal'Reegar.
"What's your current location," said Shepard
"We're bunkered down at base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a security shelter, then doubled back to hold the chokepoint. You need to get Tali out alive, if we lose that data then everyone here died for nothing. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off your ass," said Kal'Reegar.
"Hold your position, we'll hit their back ranks," said Shepard.
"Dropship incoming," yelled Garrus.
The group of three saw the dropship fly in and fire off two rockets, which hit the two marines guarding the door.
"No," yelled Shepard, and the three ran forward towards the door only to see a large stone column to fall, blocking the entrance.
"Damn," said Jack.
"Reegar, the door's blocked by a stone column," said Shepard.
"Dammit, hang on, there's some demo charges in one of the buildings, if you can find them you can get inside," said Kal'Reegar.
"Well isn't that convenient," said Garrus.
"Look you idiots, the pillar isn't more than 7 feet tall, can't we just climb over," said Jack.
"THERE'S NO TIME DAMMIT," yelled Shepard.
"Shepard, I have scanned the area and located the demolition charages the quarian commander mentioned," said EDI.
"Put 'em on my radar," said Shepard.
The HUD registered a new target and the three headed towards the building, past a large group of geth.
They came upon the building and found one of the demo charges and part one of Tali's journals.
"Hostiles," said Jack.
The group turned around and found cover, firing at the geth prime and his cohorts. They then ran towards the second demo charge to take out the rubble that they could easily just hop over (I mean seriously).
They found the second demo charge and quickly ran out of the room, only to find a geth ambush waiting for them.
"Garrus, take out the two rocket troopers up top, Jack, give those flame troopers a shockwave," said Shepard.
"On it," said Garrus and Jack.
Garrus blew the heads off the rocket troopers with his sniper rifle, while Jack's shockwave left the rest of the troopers wide open for a huge attack by Jack and Shepard.
"Die you walking appliances," yelled Shepard.
The rest of them were taken down easy and the group took a momentary breather.
They then made their way back to the building with the stone pillar in the entrance.
"Alright, now plant the explosives so we can go through the thing we could quite easily jump over," said Jack, sarcastically.
Shepard planted the two charges and the three quickly ran.
"Ka," said Garrus.
BOOM!
The three left cover and walked towards the newly opened entrance.
"This is how high it was," said Garrus, examining the height of the column, "We could've climbed right over this."
"Ugh, you two are such idiots," said Jack, shaking her head.
The group of 3 walked into the building where they found a half a geth trying to paw his way over to them. Shepard then fired an entire clip into the robot, causing a pool of white fluid to collect onto the ground and for it to fall over dead.
"Don't move," he said.
"Shepard, Tali's not here," said Garrus.
"Dammit, take a look around, see what you can find," said Shepard.
They took a look around, Garrus finding a Geth Pulse Rifle which he quickly picked up and equipped, and Jack found another one of Tali's journals.
"Tali'Zorah to base camp, calling base camp," said a console from behind them.
Shepard turned and saw the holographic display had Tali on it.
"Hello? Is anyone still there," said Tali.
"Tali, it's Shepard," said Shepard.
"Shepard, thank god you're here. What are you doing here in geth space," said Tali.
"I'm here to save a damsel in distress, where are you," joked Shepard.
"Kal'Reegar and the rest of the marines have me holed up in the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field," said Tali.
"The door here is locked and the console is damaged, is there any way you can get it open from your end," said Garrus.
"Hang on," said Tali, and she brought up her Omni-tool, "Let's see here, just a little more, and….got it."
Shepard, Garrus, and Jack turned to the door to see that it was unlocked, prepped their weapons, and headed out down a hallway and into a courtyard.
"Recon drones," yelled Jack.
Shepard and Garrus hit them with concussive shots while Jack used biotic pull to knock them out of the sky.
Garrus saw a geth prime and hit it with overload and unleashed on it with his new pulse rifle.
"God, how I never chose to get one of these things earlier, I'll never know," said Garrus, taking out the prime.
The rest of the drones were quickly taken down and the motley crew moved forward through the small corridor.
I think that's all of them," said Jack.
They walked into a small room, where Shepard opened a safe containing some credits. He walked over to a small console to open the shutters. The shutters opened and what the three saw made them nearly crap their pants.
A geth colossus turned from attacking the observatory to look at the newly opened shutters and prepared to fire.
"Oh shi…" started Jack.
"GET DOWN," yelled Shepard.
Two rockets were fired, nearly knocking the group off their feet.
"Yep, definitely like old times," said Garrus and Shepard quickly opened the nearby door and everyone ran out.
"But remember, we had the Mako the last few times we fought those things, except for that one time," said Shepard.
"Hey, get over here and get into cover," said a voice from in front of them.
They turned to see a quarian with a bright red suit and a rocket launcher firing at the colossus.
They ran into cover and found themselves under enemy fire.
"Squad Commander Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before that dropship arrived. Still got no clue why you're here, but this ain't a time to be picky," said Kal'Reegar.
He popped out of cover to fire another rocket at the colossus, before getting back behind cover and saying, "Tali's inside over there. The geth killed the rest of my squad, and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."
A rocket hit their cover and momentarily shook them but they quickly shook it off and Shepard said, "How many geth are out there?"
"The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself," said Kal'Reegar, "I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a hole clean through my suit."
Shepard turned towards the right side of the battlefield seeing that it had tons of cover.
"What can you tell me about that way over there," said Shepard, pointing towards the right side.
"Over there is a sniper perch, and you can do some serious damage to the colossus but none of my men could get past the geth," said Kal'Reegar.
"We need to get to Tali. Got any ideas," said Shepard.
"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet," said Kal'Reegar, "You move in close. I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."
"You've done enough Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away," said Shepard.
"Wasn't asking your permission, my job is to keep Tali safe and this is our best shot," said Kal'Reegar, popping out of cover.
Shepard then knocked him back down and said, "We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team."
"I'm not just going there let you go out there without help, that thing killed my squad," Kal'Reegar shot back.
"And if you want to honor your squad, you'll try to stay alive. Here, if you want to help, give me your rocket launcher and take this one," said Shepard, giving Reegar his modified missile launcher.
"This thing has a mod on it so you can fire from cover, just point it at the colossus for a few seconds and press this red button. It'll target-lock that thing and you can get back behind cover and still hit the colossus without leaving it," said Shepard.
"Alright Shepard, we'll try it your way, Keelah Sa'Lai" said Kal'Reegar, accepting the missile launcher.
"Good, if push comes to shove, just fire into the air, it will still hit the target," said Shepard.
"Got it," said Kal'Reegar, examining the new missile launcher.
Shepard pulled out his assault rifle and said, "Let's do this."
Shepard and company hopped out from behind the wall and started firing on the waves of geth and the others soon followed suit, giving Kal'Reegar time to set up the link.
"Can't we go one mission without being thrown into a suicidal situation," said Garrus.
"Yeah, but what fun would that be," said Jack.
"Fair point," said Garrus.
The 3 ran towards the catwalk on the right side of the battlefield and hugged the wall to stay out of the sun, while Kal'Reegar fully set up the link and started firing at the colossus, drawing its attention.
"Come on, let's go," yelled Jack, blasting the group of geth in their path.
Shepard pulled out the missile launcher as soon as he was in the shade, and opened fire on the colossus, drawing its attention away from Reegar, then Reegar would fire again to get its attention again Jack kept hitting it with biotics while Garrus fired on it with his assault rifle.
"Come on you son of a bitch," said Shepard.
Soon however the colossus wised up the strategy and focused completely on Shepard.
Shepard saw that the colossus was about to fire a blast and ordered his team to take cover, but Jack didn't listen. A large blast was fired and knocked Jack out, destroying her shields and causing her to start bleeding.
"Jack," yelled Shepard.
"On it," said Garrus, pulling Jack into cover.
Shepard continued the assault with Kal'Reegar while Garrus tended to Jack. Soon the colossus exploded in a huge fireball.
"YEAH!" yelled Kal'Reegar.
"How's Jack," said Shepard.
"She's hurt pretty bad," said Garrus.
"I'm just fine you idiots," said Jack, standing up with difficulty.
"Tali, are you there," said Shepard over the comm. link.
"Yeah, hang on, I locked the door to keep the geth out, this'll only take a second," said Tali.
The others saw the door open and ran inside to find Tali at a data console. She turned around to see Shepard, and then she ran over to him and gave him a large bear hug.
"I'm glad you're alright," said Tali.
"I'm the one who's supposed to say that," said Shepard, feeling a bit crushed by the hug he was in.
"Ahem, as much as I love this nauseating reunion, we should really get out of here before more geth patrols come," said Jack.
"Er right yes, we should really get moving. I'm glad you're all alright, good to finally see you in the flesh again Garrus," said Tali.
"Glad to finally see we're getting most of the old team back together," said Garrus.
"My mission is finally over, I just can't believe so many had to die to get this stupid data. I promised the Admiralty Board I would see this mission through, and now that I have, I can join you on Normandy. If they have a problem, they can go to hell. I just watched my entire team die," said Tali.
"Maybe not everyone," said a voice in the doorway.
"Kal," yelled Tali, who ran over to hug the marine in the doorway.
"Good to see you're alright ma'am," said Kal'Reegar.
"Your old captain's as good as you said. Damn colossus never even stood a chance," said Kal'Reggar.
"I had help, it wasn't just me," said Shepard, smiling at Garrus, Jack, and Kal.
"Regardless, I'm glad you came along when you did," said Kal'Reegar.
"Are you still alright, do you need transportation," said Garrus.
"I'm alright for right now, the colossus was keeping our team from the ship, and now that it's gone, we can get out of here safely," said Kal'Reegar.
"Actually Kal, I'm not going back, I'm going with Shepard," said Tali, wrapping her arm around his waist.
It only took Kal'Reegar a nanosecond to find out what was going on, and, with a smile hidden by his mask, said, "Of course ma'am, I'll pass along the message to Admiral Raan and give the data to the Admiralty Board."
"It was good meeting Reegar, maybe we could work together again someday," said Shepard.
"Hopefully it will be under better circumstances Shepard," said Kal'Reegar, leaving to start the trek to his ship.
"Well, we should get going. Joker, call down the Kodiak, we're getting off this sun-scorched rock," said Shepard, and the foursome move to the landing zone to head back to the Normandy.
Much later
"Cerberus has seen footage of you in action Miss Zorah. We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit this mission," said Jacob.
"I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice," said Tali.
"We don't have to like them Tali, we just need to cooperate," said Shepard.
"I assumed you were just undercover Shepard. Planning to blow Cerberus sky high, I'd even loan you the grenade to do it if that's the case. Otherwise, I'm here for you, not them," said Tali.
"That's all I'm asking for Tali," said Shepard.
"I'll be in engineering if you want to talk," said Tali.
"Be sure to say hi to Joker and Doctor Chakwas, they've both been excited to see you again," said Shepard.
"Of course," said Tali, smiling at him, and she headed out.
"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI. The ship's new artificial intelligence," said Jacob.
Tali then looked back at Jacob with a glare and left, swearing under her breath.
"What, what did I say," said Jacob, looking confused.
"You have a lot to learn about quarians Mr. Taylor," said Shepard, lightly chuckling.
Later
"Rotten scumbag Cerberus, stupid bosh'tets," said Tali.
She kept swearing under her breath until she crashed into a man in a shirt and jeans with a datapad in his hands.
"Watch where you're going," snapped Tali.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry about that," the man said.
He then picked up his datapad and brushed himself off.
"Sorry, I don't normally snap at people, I'm just a little on edge right now," said Tali.
The man said, "It's alright, it happens to everyone," and then looked up.
His eyes then widened and said, "Oh hi, you must be Tali'Zorah. Shepard has told me a lot about you," and shook her hand.
Tali was shocked at this and said, "Um, who are you?"
"Let me introduce myself, I'm John, John Desmond," said John.
"You're that man that they found frozen in the shuttle," said Tali.
"That's me, the Cryonic Man," said John.
Tali lightly laughed and said, "It's nice to finally meet you."
"This is great, Lia has been very excited to finally meet you," said John.
Tali couldn't wait to meet another fellow quarian who was on her Pilgrimage.
"Well if you're heading to engineering, I can come with you and introduce you to everyone," said John.
"Sounds great, um, John," said Tali.
"Maybe this won't be so bad after all," thought Tali with some hope.
(Author's Note)
Another chapter bites the dust. Like I said, this isn't a good chapter, but it was needed to advance the main story of this fic. The next few chapters will switch back to John and Lia as I start the Illium arc of the story. And now for my almost monthly dose of announcements.
#1
My other fic, LH: All In the Family, will be on indefinite hiatus until I finish this fic.
#2
I'm going to try my best to advance the story along to a very good point before Mass Effect 3 comes out, at least I'm hoping anyway. 3 days is just the motivation I need I guess.
#3
After, Mass Effect 3 comes out, there won't be any chapters for a long time, for obvious reasons. (I got the Collector's Edition pre-ordered and paid for PS3, hells yeah)
#4
Has anyone else seen the new squadmate for Mass Effect 3 for those who got the Collector's Edition, the Protean? He looks awesome doesn't he?
As per usual, please read and review, you know the rest.