It had been half an hour since Tali had seen the other shuttle and they had made very little progress into the colony due to the unusually high number of mechs they had encountered. Tali's focus had been on keeping away from the mechs and the occupants of the other shuttle in order to avoid conflict and casualties and so far her plan had worked in that respect, but they had seen no sign of Veetor. Occasionally she could hear the unmistakable sounds of combat in the distance, and she was certain it was getting closer each time she heard it.
Realizing that they were going to be found by the other squad sooner rather than later, Tali turned to the closest marine and said "OK, it looks like we can't avoid the other squad so we are going to be ready for them. Eri'Xera, you're the best shot here so I want you on the roof of the prefab over there. See if you can get a look at them so we can get an idea of what we're in for. If we have to fight them I may need you to cover me. Also keep your eyes open for Veetor he shouldn't be too far anymore."
As Eri left to clime the prefab Tali turned to the rest of her squad before continuing "Prazza you and the others need to take up defensive positions around that doorway, it's likely that they will come through here soon. I will try and talk to them and avoid any bloodshed, do not open fire unless they do. Now go!"
As Tali waited for the marines to get in position, she spoke to Eri over the com link "Eri'Xera, what can you see?"
Eri paused for a moment before responding "I can see the other squad and they are definitely Human."
"Ok, can you see how many of them there are and how are they equipped?"
Eri looked through the scope of her assault rifle, carefully observing the approaching squad as they engaged some mechs before she replied "I can only see three of them. Two male, one female. Each of them has multiple weapons and they all appear to be skilled fighters, although only one of them is wearing any sort of armour."
"Biotics?" Tali queried.
"At least two of them are, haven't seen the one with body armour use any yet bet that doesn't mean he can't."
"How long before they arrive?"
"It should be at least a few minutes, although they are moving rather quickly."
"Understood, Eri'Xera and good work. Have a quick look around and see if you can spot Veetor."
"Yes ma'am." Eri answered with the evidence of a smile in the sound of her voice, before hesitantly asking "and uh ma'am?"
"Yes Eri'Xera?"
"You can call me Eri."
"Of course Eri." This time Tali was the one smiling because for the first time (at least from her perspective) she felt that she was being shown more respect from a member of Prazza's squad than her position as mission leader entitled her to. Whilst she didn't like the pressure that leadership placed upon her she did like the impression that at least Eri thought she was doing a good job.
Tali was brought back to the present by Eri once more as she exclaimed. "I've spotted Veetor!"
Shepard had decided that they would make their way to a security station. This would be the most likely place to obtain evidence and disable the mechs, which had done little more than delay them up until this point. He would use his overload to destroy one or two of the Loki mechs at a time and shoot any others he would encounter with his Katana or Predator. Whilst the mechs weren't much of a test for them, they did give Shepard the chance to further assess the two Cerberus operatives at his side.
From what he had seen of them, the Captain could tell that Lawson and Taylor together were good. He had seen Jacob fight before and was appreciative of his combat ability, but after witnessing the two using their biotics in tandem he had to admit he was impressed. Miranda's precise singularities would pick up multiple Lokis and be detonated less than a second later by a warp from Jacob. The problem was that their fighting ability was the only good thing Shepard had seen thus far in Freedom's Progress.
Everywhere they went they saw evidence that seemed to suggest that the entire colony had simultaneously decided to get up and leave everything behind. There were half-eaten meals on a dinner table, TVs left running, an unlocked safe that still seemed to possess all of its contents, and all of this without any signs of combat and no trace of whoever or whatever was responsible.
Using standard Alliance hand signals (which to his surprise even Miranda knew) he directed his team to take cover either side of a doorway as he moved to bypass the lock on the door. Once that was done he moved through the doorway with his Predator drawn and the two Cerberus operatives flanking him. To their surprise they were met with a heavily accented "Stop right there!"
Shepard quickly glanced around at the six well armed ...'Quarians? well that's a surprise' he thought to himself as he glanced around at the group which had staged a quite effective little ambush for them.
He kept his weapon trained on the speaker as another awfully familiar Quarian stepped out of cover without her weapon drawn and approached him whilst speaking to the original "Prazza, I said I'd handle this! Wait... Shepard?"
"Tali?" Shepard queried, lowering his weapon as her name slipped from his mouth.
"You know someone in Cerberus?" Prazza accused, since he'd noticed the logo on Miranda's uniform.
"No, I.." Tali began to backtrack in confusion before she noticed the Cerberus logos as well and then fury started to surge through her. "You died and...Cerberus? You must be a clone or something! How dare they?"
She drew her gun but stopped short of firing as he began to speak.
"Wait, I'm not a clone!" he pleaded before he glanced back at the rest of his squad "Stand down you two, Tali's a friend."
Jacob lowered his weapon immediately but Miranda hesitated and began to argue "But Captain..."
Shepard cut her off quickly with a hint of anger in his voice "Stand down now Lawson or I swear to God, I'll shoot you myself!"
Along with everyone else, Miranda was stunned and stared at him wide-eyed for a second before following his order and lowering her weapon.
Shepard continued, but with a coolness to his voice now "Good, now remember when I gave you that Geth data Tali? Did it help you complete your pilgrimage? Do you sleep better now that you're back on the noisy ships of the Migrant Fleet?"
Tali noted the confused glances between the two Cerberus operatives in amusement, before she lowered her weapon and turned to Prazza "Everyone lower your weapons he's a friend."
"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus!" Prazza countered, his assault rifle still leveled at Shepard.
Tali glanced around and noticed that only Eri had followed her order as she defiantly stepped in between Prazza and Shepard and ordered. "Put those weapons down NOW!"
Prazza, like Miranda before him, hesitated for what felt like an eternity to Tali, before grudgingly complying. "Why is your friend working with Cerberus?" he queried.
"I don't know, why don't we ask him?" she replied as she turned to face Shepard.
"I died Tali, Cerberus spent two years 'rebuilding' me. They want me to investigate the attacks on Human colonies like this one." Shepard calmly responded.
"A likely story. No organisation would spend so many resources to bring back one soldier." Prazza replied, his statement dripping with skepticism.
Tali countered with a strange mix of annoyance and amusement in her voice "You haven't seen Shepard in action Prazza, trust me bringing him back is worth every penny."
"What's a penny?"
Tali groaned "Ugh, now I know I've spent too much time talking with Humans, never mind Prazza."
Shepard chuckled in response, though he couldn't help but wonder whether that meant she had kept in contact with Ash. Putting that aside for now he asked "So what brings half a dozen Quarians here?"
"We're here looking for a young Quarian named Veetor, he was here on pilgrimage."
Jacob interjected at this point "Isn't that a little unusual? I mean for a Quarian to go to a remote Human colony?"
"Quarians can go where they choose on pilgrimage, Veetor liked the Idea of helping a small settlement, he was always nervous in crowds." Tali explained.
Prazza interjected once more "She means he's unstable. Combining that with a breach in his suit and an infection from an open air exposure means that he's probably delirious by this point."
"We just spotted him a couple of minutes ago heading to the security station. He is most likely the one who activated all of the mechs." Tali continued, her annoyance with Prazza really starting to soar.
Shepard replied "He might know what happened to the colonists, we should team up to get him to get this done more easily."
"Good idea, we will need two teams to get past the blast doors in any case."
Prazza angrily spoke up once more "So we're working for Cerberus now?"
"No, Prazza you're working for me! If you have a problem with that you can wait here until we get back!" Tali's anger bubbled over for a moment, but it seemed to work as Prazza stayed silent once more.
Shepard opted to end the discussion now and get on with the mission, hopeful that Tali would keep Prazza in line. "Ok then, stay in radio contact, let's move out,"
Thanks to all of those who have written reviews thus far, especially Endrius and Wilkco who have given me a few ideas to consider for future chapters. If anyone sees a mistake or plot error please let me know, i'm likely to make at least a few and I do want to improve my writing and deliver a clear and cohesive story. More reviews are always welcome.
