Chapter 51 – Virmire, part II

Virmire, Checkpoint I cleared

The team settled back into the Mako and Jane moved them through the checkpoint, albeit slowly. "Are we still jammed, Tali?"

"We are. I get momentary fragments of clear data, but it's not enough to put together a meaningful map of what is out there."

"I know what is out there, Shep. Look at that thing! It's got to be at least three times the size of the Mako!"

And it was. Directly in their path was a Colossus, towering above them and skittering back and forth across the sand.

Shit. I'm not sure we have the firepower to take that thing down.

"What's that behind it? Can you see through the scope, Ash?" Jane was squinting through the windshield but couldn't quite make out what she saw.

The gunnery chief grunted and then pulled the enhanced optical lens against her eye. "Two armatures behind it."

Jane let out a low whistle. "Well that seals it, ladies. They have something here they are going to extraordinary measures to protect. I wonder what it is…"

"How are we going to get past that thing, Shep?"

Jane turned around in her seat. "Tali, is there anything on board that we can use to blow that thing up?"

Tali thought for a moment, then nodded enthusiastically. "I think we can use some of this stuff Danger sent us. I guess it is something to improve fuel economy but we can probably use it as an accelerant." She pulled two small boxes full of small cans out from behind the rear bench and held it out for Jane's inspection. "If we can rig the cannons to fire some of these and then use the turrets to ignite it, that might be enough to take that colossus down."

"Do it. We don't have a lot of options and until that AA tower is down the Normandy is out of commission."

"Yes, Commander." Tali set to work and Jane leaned back in her chair, massaging her head.

"Hey," Ash poked her commanding officer. "How are you holding up?"

"Eh. Just another day in the Alliance Navy."

"Ha, you can say that again. When you signed up, you ever dream it was going to be like this?"

Jane chanced a glance back at Tali to check her progress, then thought about all of the other aliens currently about her ship. "You know what? I didn't. Not really. I just figured I'd be sent to deal with a skirmish here, a raid there, but never anything big like this. What about you?"

"I don't know, Shep. I always hoped I'd be a part of something big, but that was mostly for selfish reasons, you know?" Jane could hear the pain in her voice and nodded silently. "Now that I am a part of something big, it's not quite as glamorous as I thought it would be. Most of the time I'm too busy just hoping we get out of it alive to worry about what it will do for my career."

"Yea, I know what you mean. Still, I'm glad you are with me on this one Ash."

"Done, commander. You'll need to get us a little closer and that will put us in the crosshairs, but if we are fast enough we should be able to take it out with one shot. Hopefully the raining debris will damage the armatures behind it."

"What's the plan, Tali?"

"I need you to move us closer, and then I will use the cannon to launch the modified projectiles at the Colossus. Chief Williams will have to time her turret fire to the exact moment that it hits the geth for it to have the full effect."

Ashley nodded and pulled the gun controls back into her lap, and set her eye against the scope. "Ready when you are, Tali."

"We're probably only going to get one shot at this, so make it count, ladies!" Jane gritted her teeth and set her eyes on a target just in front of the massive geth 'tank'. She felt her pulse quicken and she reached for the tendrils of her power, just a little bit, just enough to shield them in case this all went horribly wrong. It wouldn't save them, but it would buy them time to get away.

"Here we go." Her fingers danced across the console, causing the rover to move forward directly into the geth's path. "It's noticed us! Brace yourselves, this might hurt a little!"

The geth certainly had noticed them. It pivoted and turned almost gracefully, and immediately started firing upon the smaller vehicle. Jane stopped the Mako by slamming the forward button again and signaled to Tali to open fire. The quarian activated the controls, and Jane saw a… soup can? Flying through the air…

"Tali… what in the world is that?"

"There wasn't much for me to use to mix this stuff up, but Danger left all of this soup in here! The cans were perfect. I've never seen anything quite like them. Is this what you eat on Earth?"

"What did you do with what was inside?" Jane looked around the Mako, half expecting to see a flood of tomato at their feet.

Tali replied innocently, "Emergency induction port."

Jane stared blankly at the quarian, but she didn't have time to inquire further because just then Ash had lit up the turrets and the resulting explosion rolled the Mako several times.

"Yea! That got him. Look at that, Commander! There's practically nothing left!" Ash continued to fire, aiming in the general direction of the two armatures even as they were tumbling, and the two geth vehicles quickly fell. Jane though she detected a hint of bloodlust in the chief's tone. She was enjoying this.

"Nice shooting, gunny." Jane fired the thrusters and righted the rover, and started them moving forward again. "Let's just hope there aren't any more of those big ones."

"Aw, that was fun though!" Ash punched Jane in the arm and grinned. "Come on, you wish you had been the one firing. Admit it."

Jane remained silent, but the corners of her mouth twitched ever so slightly and Ash fist-pumped the air. "YEA! I knew it! Ha!"

"Um… I have a lot of hot spots on the radar, commander."

"Really? First we can't see anything, now we can see everything? Well, there's nothing we can do now, Tali. By now they know we're here. We're just going to have to be ready for whatever is out there. Annnd, it looks like it's another Armature. They must really want to keep this place secure. You have any more of those soup cans?"

"You bet, Commander."

"Ladies, fire at will."

Chief Williams grinned and waited for Tali to launch the soup can. "Direct hit, commander!"

"Yea, but a direct hit to us as well, Chief." Tali pointed at the mini schematic of the Mako under Jane's right hand. "Pull behind that rock and I'll use some omnigel to repair this."

Jane maneuvered the Mako into cover and slammed the forward button again to bring them to a stop. "Those armatures hurt. Ash, let's get out and make sure no one tries anything cute."

"Right." The two soldiers hopped out of the vehicle and took up positions on either side.

"It's quiet out here, at least."

"For the moment, Ash. I'm sure it's only for the moment."

"Hey, let me enjoy it while I can."

"Sure, just don't let your guard down."

"Shep, I'm the epitome of cognizance."

"Stop using big words. My head already hurts from dealing with that stupid computer."

"Accessing: Voice Verification Complete. I heard that, Commander Shepard."

Jane just rolled her eyes. "See?"

Tali poked her head out of the Mako and motioned for the two to get back in. "It's not 100%, but it will get us to the camp. Let's just hope we don't meet too much more resistance."

"Did you have to reactivate DIDI?"

"It was more efficient to have her help with this. She has promised to behave."

Jane narrowed her eyes at the AI. "She'd better."

Tali punched a few buttons on her console, and then cursed under her breath. "Keelah, this is frustrating. We're completely jammed again, Commander."

"And that's why," Jane said, pointing ahead. "Another Big Ugly, smack in front of us. I hope we have more soup cans."

Tali didn't respond, but just launched another of her special mixture toward the Colossus. It was easy pickings for Ash with the turret gun.

"Chief Hacker Tali, Operative Danger would like you to know that you have just used fifty thousand creds worth of performance enhancing agent as a primitive bomb."

Jane glanced at Tali, raising an eyebrow. "Is she watching us?"

"No, I told her through our omni-tool link what we were doing some time ago."

"Is it an exaggeration?"

Tali shrugged. "I don't know. That's one of our towers up ahead. I believe that is our target."

"Indeed. And don't think I didn't notice you artfully changing the subject." She shook a finger at Tali to emphasize her point. "I'm going to check the credstick when we get back to the Normandy."

Tali shrugged and tried to look innocent.

"What can we expect inside, Commander?" Ash asked.

"Don't know. Resistance has been heavy as it is and that's just out in the open where they are vulnerable too. No telling what they have stacked up when they have the advantage. I'll try to come up alongside that rock on the left. It will afford us a little bit of cover, anyway."

"Shit, Commander, I thought you said alongside it not UP it!" Ash pushed against the ceiling again and looked at her commanding officer.

"DIDI, quit trying to take over the controls. I got this now."

"Commander Shepard, I have a message from Operative Danger."

"Oh, for the love of… What. What can be so crucial NOW that she just has to say?"

Just then, Jane heard a click, and the Mako seemed to groan in relief as it settled forward.

"Ok, what was that?" Jane looked around, half expecting a geth drone to pour out of the circuitry.

"The message is: 'you have been driving with the parking brake on. Really?'"

Jane closed her eyes and willed herself calm.

Just let it go. Don't egg her on. Let it go.

"So, DIDI, she is watching us!" Ash exclaimed.

"Accessing: Voice Verification Complete. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Operative Danger merely programmed me to assist you in any way possible."

"Yea. Thanks. Did she also seriously program you to refer to everyone by their complete title and full name?"

"No, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Just you."

"Awesome. She's so thoughtful. Shep, I can't get a good visual from here."

"I know gunny. Just hang on a second. DIDI, where is reverse?"

The vehicle started moving in reverse.

"DIDI! I want to know where the controls for reverse are."

"Of course, Commander Shepard. You simply move the forward slide in the other direction."

"In the other… You know what? I'm done." Jane turned back to the controls and glared at the slide bar that she had thought was a button.

"There, hold it there Shep! Two scouts – I don't see any others. The rest must be inside. No doubt they know we're here now. Can you move us closer? I think I see a sniper. Yea, definitely a sniper. Boom."

"Good job, Ash."

"Wait a second, Commander. There's a destroyer up there too. I can't get it from here. It's just out of range."

"We're too far away for me to hack it as well, Commander."

"I guess we will need to get inside there to take the rest of them out. There's no way we can get any closer and still be effective in the vehicle. I'll bring the Mako around and we jump out and cut our way to the top. We need to bring down that tower at all costs."

"Aye, Commander," Ash replied.

Jane and Ash jumped out first again, and as before, the commander motioned for the gunnery chief to bring up the rear. "Take cover. I heard gunfire." She flattened herself against the stairwell wall and listened.

"Where's it coming from?" Ash mouthed at Jane.

Jane motioned upward and signaled her to lay low. She started creeping up the stairs, and suddenly pivoted out and gunned down the two shock troopers in her path. Ashley and Tali followed close behind, and the quarian easily hacked the destroyer, sending it into a self-destructive frenzy.

"Tali, go take down the AA controls and hack the weapons lockers."

"Yes, Commander."

Jane nodded to Ashley and they both stood guard just outside the hallway. It wasn't long before she heard the familiar chirp in her earbud.

"Commander, I'm reading that the tower is down. We're en route to the Salarian base now."

"Copy that Joker. We're right behind you."

Jane nodded as Tali returned from her hacking. "Anything good?" she asked.

"Just more Tungsten rounds."

"Reload then. Move out."

They returned to the Mako, and Jane just waved at DIDI to take over the controls. "I don't have the strength to fight with you, or Darla, anymore. Just get us to the Salarian base in one piece.

"Of course, Commander Shepard. Operative Danger only has your best interests at heart, after all."

"Right."

"Commander?"

"Yea, Ash?"

"You're not going to like this."

Really? What part of this HAVE I liked so far?

"What is it?"

"Another checkpoint full of geth."

Tali looked down at the radar, and then leaned forward again almost falling into Jane's lap. "Yep. They have those gates locked up tight, no just blowing through and having the Normandy sweep back over. You'd think Joker would have had the decency to like, send a couple torpedoes down here or something."

Jane massaged her temple for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "Nah, that would have left nothing but rubble. Then we'd have to find a way over it, around it, or blast through it, or something."

"You're probably right. But I'm getting sick of climbing in and out of this rover. One of these times my suit is going to tear. Can't we just stay in the Mako?"

"We wouldn't have to get out and clean up the checkpoint if Ash's aim with that turret was better."

"Hey you try to shoot anything with your driving. It's ridiculous."

Jane almost smiled. "All right ladies, put your big girl panties on. Let's clear the rest of these out so we can get on to the salarian camp."

"Aye, Commander."

They hopped out of the rover once more and made their way up the stairs. "Hmm... Seems quiet, Commander," Tali commented.

"Too quiet," Jane grunted. She leveled her assault rifle and motioned for Williams to join her. "What do you make of this?"

"Calm before the storm?"

Jane nodded. "Probably. Suggestions?"

"None. Just have to push forward."

"Agreed."

The two fanned out, and Tali took up a position to the commander's right. It wasn't long before Ashley's prediction came true though. Overwhelming numbers started pouring out of the far hallway and pushed the team back. After their scouts had been taken out the larger force had hidden away and waited for them to approach on foot. Jane barely had time to shout a warning to everyone.

"This one is loaded! Back off! Back off!" She waved her arm and then started firing into the group. They converged on her and slowly ate away at her shields. She cursed the day dragging out this long. She hadn't activated her platinum safeguards. Either the exhaustion had finally caught up to her, or she simply forgot to activate them – either way the result was the same. She felt her shields fail, and rounds start to slam against her armor.

"Shepard's shields are down! Tali, flank them! Shit, where's the damn biotics when you need them? Tali can't you hack them or something?"

"I'm trying! Give me a minute!"

"We don't have a minute! Shepard is taking heavy fire! Get those geth hacked NOW!"

"There, got them!"

Jane felt rather than saw the geth swarm turn on each other.

Good job, Tali. I can take it from here.

She started raining fire into the mob and one by one, the geth fell and overloaded. She felt Ash moving to her side and together they took down the last of the resistance standing in between them and the Salarian camp. She wanted to collapse in exhaustion, but this wasn't the time. She leaned on her assault rifle and motioned for Tali to scout down the hall.

"You ok, Commander?"

"Yea. My shields will regenerate. I didn't take any serious hits."

"Good. You know, maybe it's time to revisit the structure of these away teams."

"What do you mean, Ash?"

Chief Williams attached her assault rifle to the back of her armor and leaned against the overlook. "I mean, it's probably going to get worse from here, now that all the geth are gunning for us. Maybe you should think about a more diverse team."

"I still don't know what you mean, Ash. Tali has been performing pretty well. Her hacking experience has come in handy, anyway, and she hasn't gotten us killed yet."

"It has, I agree, but I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about me. You and I, we're exactly the same you know. We're both soldiers, trained in using big guns and bullying our way through encounters. You don't need another you out here. You need to replace me with one of the biotics. What if this hadn't been geth? What if it had been Krogan? There's no way we would have survived it."

"You're probably right, but what are my choices? Kaidan is a great soldier, but he's unreliable. It's not his fault, but I can't trust that his amp isn't going to act up. Wrex is a strong biotic too, but he's unpredictable. You know what I'm talking about with him. My hands are tied here."

"You left out T'Soni. She's actually the best biotic of the lot and you know it. You need to replace me with her, Shepard."

"I... I can't."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Actually… I don't think I do. We've had a few conversations and tiptoe around it because of rank and this or that, but I think you're just trying to talk yourself out of responsibility for her."

Jane raised an eyebrow, not fully understanding.

"I think you're just making this too complicated. I mean, yea, we are under a load of stress and there's this whole saving the universe thing and like, Udina would probably have a cow, but what is the real reason you keep playing this push\pull tug-o-war with T'Soni?"

Jane let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"I don't know Ash. I keep making these stupid decisions, and saying these stupid things, and then everything I intended to happen turns out…"

"Stupid?" Ashley supplied.

"Yea. Stupid."

"You know what's really stupid?"

"What?"

"Having a clear chance at something great to see you through the darkness, and getting in your own way of having it. That's what I think is stupid."

Just then, they heard a click and the structure shuddered a bit. Tali came back, practically bouncing. "That did it. We shouldn't have any more trouble reaching the camp."

"That is, as long as the commander doesn't try to drive up the stairs or something equally stupid." Jane just grunted.

Ashley made a big show of scratching her cheek for a moment before thoughtfully adding, "You know I originally thought that your clumsiness was a byproduct of Liara being all asari and you know. Asari. But now I'm beginning to think you really are just inept."

"Pft." Jane waved her off. "Stand down, gunny. It's this stupid car. We should have never encouraged Tali and Garrus."

"Agreed."

"Look – there goes Joker. Was he just flying in circles this whole time?" Tali pointed at the Normandy which was just touching down in the distance. As if on cue, their earbuds chirped signaling communications on the standard channel.

"Commander, Normandy's touched down at the base but it looks like we're grounded. The Salarian captain can explain when you get here."

"Great. I just can't wait to see what this is all about." Jane hoisted her assault rifle over her shoulder and leaned back, stretching her muscles.

"Well Commander, at least they are alive."

"How many of them remains to be seen, though," commented Tali.

"Well, just stay sharp everyone. They may be our allies but after the Benezia fiasco I don't trust anyone. I especially don't trust the council or anything that they have set us out to do."

"Aye Commander. And commander?"

"Yea, Ash?"

"Think about what I said."