Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mass Effect, EA, Bioware, or CreatureHub.
A/N: .. Fuck it, I'll just write.
Casbin, Hong system, Armstrong Nebula.
February 13th, 9 A.M.
(Ashley POV)
"Shepard, you want me to drive?" Wrex grunts as the Mako jerks violently from another jump.
"I got it." He grunts back. "Tali, location update."
"Keep heading North, Commander." She replies, watching the console at her station. I look around the cab. With Vakarian manning the gun, The cargo/passenger space was filled by Wrex, myself, and... Him. I couldn't even think about the man without my gut churning. The worst Humanity has to offer, no doubt. And a hypocrite to boot.
"Williams." I'm shaken from my thoughts by Wrex. "I can practically feel the hate radiating off of you." I look to Weston, but his eyes are closed, and the headphones on his head suggest he's not paying attention.
"He's just.. Ugh." I nearly hiss. "I can't stand him."
"And why is that?" He asks.
"Because he's... He's a killer. He's an asshole. He makes Humans look bad. He makes me uncomfortable." I look at his pockets. "Look at that!" I growl. "He carries rosary beads, but acts like a godless heathen!"
"Don't hold back Williams, tell him how you really feel." Shepard chuckles, and I realize how much my voice climbed.
"Well, he just.. I don't get him. And he pisses me off."
"If you asked, you might learn a thing or two." Weston says, and I pale as I look towards him. His headphones were off and folded up in a pocket. "You question my faith when you nothing about me." His expression is bland, but his tone is decidedly irritated. "You judge me for things you have no idea of. Go through what I have Williams, then cast your judgement. For that matter, who are you to judge? You're nothing more than a grunt with something to prove. Something that will ultimately get you killed." His words bite hard, but I have no time to reply.
"Echo, We're here. Set up on the ridge, cover us. Hopefully no Colossi will drop from the sky." The assembled team shudders at the memory of a few hours ago.
"Sir." He replies, donning his helmet and exiting the Mako.
"Now," Shepard mutters. "Into the lion's den."
"Lion's den indeed, Shepard." Wrex states, looking around at the mess we made. "But too small to be the main base."
"I was just thinking the same thing." He nods. "Garrus?"
"Signal's coming from a different system Shepard. One that we didn't check."
"Alright, ready up folks. We're chasing that signal."
(Tali POV)
'KeelahKeelahKee-'
"Ready?" Shepard barks, cutting my worry off. "On three." 'The Geth, a real fight with the Geth.'
"One." 'On foot, lots of them.'
"Two." 'Why are they all so calm? This is so dangerous, don't they know that?'
"Three!" Like a wave, we crashed through the door, thought giving way to training as the two Troopers at the door collapse under the fire near-instantly, and we move into the main area. Geth are everywhere, pelting us with Mass-accelerated slugs as we get into cover. Cory is gone, halfway across the room and flanking several units before we got pinned down. Shepard is already directing fire.
"Garrus, watch the balcony! Wrex, keep those Husks off of us. Echo, open up a hole for us."
"With pleasure." The latter responds, and Geth start dropping in bursts. As they turn towards the new danger, problems arise for us.
"Shepard!" I yell. "Juggernauts coming!" He looks, and sure enough, they're marching in, keeping us in cover with Carnage fire. The next minutes seem to blur into a haze of gunfire, explosions, and shouts of orders. The next thing I realize, I'm separated from the others, with the remaining Juggernaut turning a corner and leveling a rifle at my head.
A few months ago, I would be dead. But moving on instinct is something Garrus and Cory hardwired into me at this point. I'm around it in a flash, Forcing the weapon to the side and jamming my shotgun into it's head and pulling the trigger.
Only for said shotgun to spark and nothing else. I have no time to consider this as I'm sent flying into a crate. My vision is swimming, and I feel like I'm going to puke from the force of the impact as I draw my pistol. I move before the unit can pull the trigger, jamming the weapon under it's chin and not letting up until the gun overheats. I'm kneeling next the now defunct monster, chest heaving and hands shaking as I escape death again.
"Tali." A voice calls, and I ignore it until I jerk as a hand lands on my shoulder. "Hey," The voice says again, and as I turn to it I realize it's Shepard, with Cory and Liara on the other side. "It's okay," Shepard says quietly. "It's over." He turns to Liara. "Get her back on the Mako, okay?" She nods, pulling me up and leading me away. I'm too out of it to care.
(Shepard POV)
"Way too close." Cory mutters, looking at the Juggernaut.
"Yeah, but she handled it." I reply. "You trained her well." He shakes his head.
"No training can prepare you for something like that." He says, picking up Tali's shotgun. It's an ancient looking weapon, with plating engraved in a similar pattern as Tali's suit.
"Look's like we oughta replace that." I mention.
"Maybe" he says, looking it over.
"Shepard, we've got something." Garrus calls, and we head over. "Some kind of signal was sent off to the Perseus Veil. Not sure what, considering Geth we're shooting at us. But that's not what I called you over for." He steps away form the readout, and I take his place. My eyes widen at the information.
"Weapons data, Geth Hopper schematics, evolution. This is a map of the Geth and their activity over the past 300 years. The Alliance would love to have their hands on this." I remark.
"Or the Quarians." Cory states, and I look up at him. "The blueprints and playbook of their greatest enemy? Highly valuable." I smile a bit at this.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask him, and he nods. "Good. Let's head back to the Normandy."
(Tali POV)
The sound of boots alerts me before he says anything. Only one person would come down here wearing Alliance boots who wasn't already in attendance. "Shepard." I greet him. "You have a moment?"
"Of course, Tali." He smiles. what do you need?"
"I heard about that data you found, down on Solcrum." I start, getting nervous as I ask my next question. "Is there any chance... I could get a copy of it? It would a huge help for my pilgrimage, and that kind of data would mean a better understanding of the Geth for my people..." I trail off as I see the look on Shepard's face.
"Tali, I'm sorry, but Hackett requested the information be sent straight to him, with no back-ups. I had to follow orders." My mood is crushed at the news.
"It's.. I understand Shepard. An Admiral's word is law on the Flotilla as well." I say, averting my eyes and trying to force down the lump in my throat.
"Although.." He starts, And I look back up at him. "If someone who was, say, unaffiliated with the Alliance, got their hands on it and gave it to you, well, I wouldn't have much say in it." He says with a smirk, and I realize his meaning. Before he can react I have him in a hug.
"Oh, thank you Shepard!" I nearly squeal, quickly letting him go.
"Well, it wasn't exactly my idea," He says, rubbing his neck. "I'm not the one who you should thank." He adds, walking back towards the door. "We'll be heading to the Attican Beta cluster soon. We've got another lead, a big one this time." I look back towards Cory who's smirking at me. As I walk towards him, He holds his hand out, dropping an OSD into my palm.
"You're welcome." He says. "You can skip the pounce though." I blush a bit at this.
"Thank you." I say, dropping the OSD into a pocket. My now-free hand is used to then slug him.
"The hell was that for?" He asks, rubbing his shoulder.
"For making me think Shepard tossed the data."
"You think that was my idea?"
"Yes."
"Ingrate." He says with a chuckle.
"Bosh'tet."
A/N: I.. Don't have a good reason for my absence, not really. I'm sorry it's taken this long for me to get something done, but... Nah, I'm not gonna make excuses. The story lives on though! I'm not dropping it. Hopefully you guys won't either. Thanks for sticking with it for this long. I tried to do something with the combat other than give a blow-by-blow. With a first person POV story, You're not watching what everyone else is doing, you're keeping your eyes on your problems. You don't do that in a firefight, you're dead, which I think is the flaw in some S.I. stories. Also, everybody mentally deals with that kind of situation differently. I've spoken to people who've had to before. So, some people will be entirely focused, while some will blur out the violence. It's a defense mechanism. (End of explaining my crappy writing).