Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect games. This story is written with no profit in mind. I make no money from it. It isn't for sale or rent.

Chapter 4

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Part 7

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24.04.2183GS

Nova Yekaterinburg

Therum

The Normandy approached like an avenging angel straight out of a movie, glorious, beautiful and gleefully smiting the wicked, Ashley thought. Whatever was in the air, was more than enough to make her lasers visible lances of light as they burst from her hull and struck at enemy concentrations through out the town… and on that note, the Sergeant was glad she had a fully sealed helmet keeping her from inhaling the shit in the air.

"Repeat that!" Williams snapped at the still recovering local – she missed his last due to the loud crack of Gardian lasers and the engine's roar as the Normandy approached for a pickup.

"The Asari?" The scarred man glared at her with his one biological eye. The other one looked blind at first glance and with the impressive scar on that side of his face, it would be easy to fool people who didn't pay attention, yet it had no trouble tracking her too – so he had a working prosthetic in there. He hacked of a phlegm and spat it on the ground before looking around. "Fuck, where did my rebreather go?"

"The Asari?" Ashley impatiently tapped a foot on the ground. Even with the ship coming overhead, she felt awfully exposed out in the open. There were too few people offering cover too but that couldn't be helped. God, she was just grateful that there were survivors down here, still fighting! After what happened with 312th…

"There're eight of them. Five maidens, and three older ones – more experienced and deadly. You could see it in their eyes, though they were all very polite and quite nice when no one bothers them. I don't know what they're really doing here but even that meek little archaeologist moves like a bloody veteran..."

"That's all very nice and all, but do you know where they are?" Ashley demanded.

"At least one is in the town – last we heard she got to the other tower and was a major reason it was still standing before Geth jamming and their assault on HQ cut us off." The scarred man explained. His eyes were now fully focused and instead of looking at Ashley, they scanned the surroundings for threats. Whoever the old bastard was he was both obviously though and knew what he was doing – not like she would expect from the rent-a-cops many corps hired and then marketed as the Gods own gift to mankind.

"Commander," Ashley shouted to be heard under Normandy's roar. "New Intel – our VIP came with seven companions, by the sound of it, bodyguards. At least one of them was last heard of defending the other remaining AA tower." Williams paused. "It's the other one, not one of those the Geth overran, right?" She asked the more or less intact survivor.

"That's the one." The old man nodded.

"That's our next stop, then." Shepard nodded. He glanced at the Mako, then at the scarred man. "There's no space in the tank and you look like hell. Go get on the Normandy so the Doc can check on you."

"I won't argue with that. Fuck, I've got enough of the flash-heads to last me a lifetime." The man shook his head – a mistake that made him stumble. "God-damn it." He paused and looked around. "Where's Jessie?!"

"We already loaded the other survivors." Said Shepard, who had come close enough to be heard without screaming on the top of his lungs.

"Fuck them, where is my rifle?!" The man suddenly became frantic and began looking around.

"Your rifle? That's who Jessie is?" Ashley grimaced. This was just like her uncle Frank – he gave names to all his weapons and even slept with at least one of them under his pillow…

She looked at the Commander, who simply stared back for a moment. He rolled his eyes behind the helmet because of that man's antics… right?

"Ah, here you are!" Speaking of the devil, he had an old Lancer rifle in his hands – it looked like a genuine Mod I of all things and looked at it as if it was his first love or something…

Now, Ashley liked weapons, she liked them very much. Depending on where she was, having a pistol close at hand when you slept could be a good policy too. However, she did draw the line at giving them names, much less treating them as if they were your firstborn…

"Sir, let's get you on board so the Doc could check you..." When she addressed him again, Ashley spoke carefully as if she was handling a tickling time bomb...

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Archaeological site

Therum

During her two hundred and fifty odd years as a Huntress, Sarella had suffered many indignities. Crawling through a Goddess damned sewer in order to evacuate her principals during a slaver raid had been one of the lowest points she had to suffer, however even then she didn't have to worry of being buried alive. Now, the Geth of all things – the bogeymen from beyond the Veil that people loved to shoot bad action movies and write worse books about, decided that it would be a good day to bury her alive. It was only a combination of an instinctive reaction and centuries of training and experience that allowed her to collapse her barrier and twist it around herself to prevent tons of rock and dirt from crushing her.

Now, Sarella was beginning to think that had been a mistake – at least a big nice rock busting her head in could have been more or less painless, not to mention, fast. Instead, she now had to keep what used to be the ceiling from slowly crushing her while her air was running out. It was becoming harder and harder to breath and the strain she was under didn't help matters. Even worse, she was about to go to the embrace of the Goddess as a failure! Her Lady's daughter was deeper in the mine trying to find either a way out through the buried Prothean ruins or a nice defensible place to make a stand! She had to protect the kid but instead all she managed to do was ensure she would either suffocate or cook in this forsaken place…

Sarella's omni-tool cracked and buzzed – a very close call with Geth plasma saw to it becoming quite fried along with her arm earlier. Was someone trying to contact her? Sarella blinked in confusion. It was becoming harder to think…

More cracking and hissing came from the busted device followed by a faint, barely audible distinctly flanging voice. "...eat. This… ant… Va… Tur… nessss..."

Was she hallucinating? What would Turians do here of all places?!

"This… ...tor Li... ...oni! ... trapped ...and ...eed help!"

'Damn it, girl! The whole reason I sent you deep into the mine was to keep your location secret for as long as possible!' Sarella fumed silently.

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Part 8

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24.04.2183GS

Nova Yekaterinburg

Therum

Shepard's squad took a moment to get all relevant communication codes and frequencies from the ambulatory survivor – one Zaeed Massani before bundling him into the Normandy and leaving for their next destination. On the way there, both Shepard and the frigate began broadcasting, complete with the right codes, that help had arrived and that the Turians who would soon be touching down were friendly. With that task underway, the Turian Senior Captain unleashed most of his reserve and a frigate and a flock of shuttles began descending through the heavens.

The only resistance they met on the way to the second AA tower came in the form of uncoordinated Geth drones and in small numbers they weren't much of a threat to the Mako – the shields and APS were more than capable of handling their missiles and mass accelerators long enough for Corporal Esif to smear their debris all over the battered town. A major and good change compared to what they experienced on Eden Prime was the comparative lack of bodies on the streets – thankfully the mercenary they rescued was right and the bulk of the civies managed to get to the shelters before the Geth struck in force or at least so it appeared. On the down side, after the Normandy's second strafing run, most remaining Geth went to ground into any nearby building and digging them up without wiping the town off the map was going to be a steel plated bitch and a half.

"Did any of you notice that there were not enough Geth for op of this size?" John wondered aloud. True, there were a lot of drones, however what they faced here was a pittance compared to the swarms hunting or patrolling back on Eden Prime and the actual robots themselves…

"There were more Geth in the force that hit my patrol than we saw on approach." Ashley confirmed. "With that many ships on orbit… Those are robots, sir. They don't need life support, nor food or water. You can stack them in any available compartment and they would keep when you arrive at your target. We should be seeing at least a battalion worth of units down here. How many did the Normandy take out? About a company spread out through out the town?"

After consulting with the ship protectively flying above them, Shepard nodded. "Joker believes he took out a reinforced company with the Gardians. Once tactical has gone over the data we'll have better numbers. Add a platoon or two striking that refinery…" Shepard paused. "They might have had a battalion worth to throw at everything they had to hit on the ground and that cost them. Can't say for sure. Just keep your eyes open – we might have a lot of robots hiding in the town."

John took a sharp turn and accelerated over a larger path leading straight to their target. The AA tower was obviously still operational and it swung left and right seeking hostile aerial targets. The Mako's systems highlighted three friendly and one unknown IFF next to a burned down truck turned to its side and used as a makeshift cover. He cleared his throat and activated the loudspeakers built in the Mako.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Shepard from the Normandy. What is your status?"

One of the figures dared glance over the edge of his cover and a helmet popped beside what was left of a melted down wheel.

"This is PFC Russel, SA Marines! Damn, I'm glad to hear your voice, sir!" A very young and terribly relieved voice shouted back. "The tower is still active, however we need med-evac ASAP."

"Corpsman, you're on point. We'll cover you." Shepard revved up the Mako's engine and accelerated, before slamming the brakes and making it drift until it stopped with its back right behind the burned out truck.

Williams opened the rear ramp and got out first, followed by the corpsman with Alenko exiting last. "The Mako's yours, Corporal." Shepard announced and followed his people.

When he got outside, both Alenko and Williams had taken cover – Ashley crouched near the PFC John just spoke with and Kaidan used the Mako itself in order not to provide an even better target for a missile or grenades. Shepard heard the distinct whine of accelerating drone before the Mako's weapon station swung to the left and Esif blasted the incoming threat to pieces with one well aimed round.

Only then, John could take a better look at the tower and the carnage below it. Ten corpses were laid beside just behind the AA emplacement, with a small group of wounded using the tower itself as a cover. None of them looked fit to walk, not even crawl really and a medic laid beside them with most of his skull missing. That only left the three people with active IFFs – the PFC, who had his left arm dangling uselessly by his side, another private, this time in the local security armour, just like the mercenary they evacuated from the other tower, and a tall and muscular Asari in dark light armour meant for mobility and only to really protect from fragments. The woman had her attention divided between Shepard and his people and an odd looking shotgun she was busy fixing.

"You don't happen to be Dr T'soni, do you?" John asked.

"Who wants to know?" The woman raised up her head and a ripple of biotic power travelled up and down her form.

"Commander, Shepard, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. The Council sent me along with another Spectre to retrieve Dr T'soni and bring her back in one piece."

"What?!" PFC Russel exclaimed. "What about us and Therum?!"

"They also sent a CDF task force with us and we have Turian marines hitting Geth concentrations outside the capital as we speak." Shepard carefully didn't voice his doubts of them sending said force this promptly if Dr T'soni wasn't on the surface.

"Typical, if it wasn't for the Asari, no one would have cared about us..." The other Private muttered darkly.

"If it wasn't for her, we all would be dead!" Russel snapped at the merk.

"If it wasn't for them, the Geth might not have been here in the first place!" The EAE trooper barked back. "Do I look like a fool to you? If there wasn't something the Geth wanted down here intact, they would have nuked us from orbit along with your precious garrison and now a pair of Spectre and Turians come here for one of those Asari?! Pull the other one, it has a bell on it!"

"No one here is interested in your sexual escapades, Private. We'll be evacuating you on board the Normandy for medical treatment. As for you, Ma'am," John turned his attention back to the Asari, "We need to find Dr T'soni if she is still in one piece. Do you know where she is?"

"I'm not sure – she had to travel between at least three different dig sites to oversee the work there or to argue with the local mining companies who aren't pleased that two of their mines got practically shut down when they uncovered Prothean ruins. The last I heard, she was at the dig near the refinery and once she was done there she meant to visit one of the other sites."

"Vasir, Shepard. I've made contact with one of our VIP's bodyguards. She was at your target some time before the attack, intending to visit one of the other sites later." With the Normandy above them and a multiple friendly ships in orbit, it was easy to have real time more or less secure communication despite what passed as weather and all the poisonous ash on this hell-hole.

"...ard..." Crackling voice came from John's omni-tool. "...vy resistance." The distinct sound of warping and tearing metal followed and it was soon joining by an electronic screech and the retort of a shotgun. "Shepard, we've got a Geth platoon with armour support on the ground here. We'll deal with them and secure the site before searching for the VIP. Go secure the other possible locations along with the Turians. Be advised, we encountered extremely mobile snipers with personal cloaks – the Goddess be-damned things hop all over the place and have no issues clinging to walls, ceilings, pipes – you name it, they can use it."

"Roger that, watch out for fucking invisible snipers."

"That is not something we see every day." The Asari interjected. "I'm coming with you. It's my job to keep Liara safe."

"Then what were you doing here?" Williams asked.

"I was to arrange a supply delivery."

"You haven't introduced yourself, Ma'am."

"Matron Erin Lu'min, at your service, Spectre."

"Did Matriarch Benezia T'soni assign you to this job?" Shepard asked. With her potentially compromised, who knew about Dr T'soni's security detail? On the other hand the fact that the Geth apparently hadn't gotten their hands on the VIP pointed at them not being compromised.

"Her father, actually." The Asari said. "Why did my answer made you relax a bit, Commander?"

Shepard looked around. "Not the time and place." Even if Lu'min was telling the truth. He activated his omni-tool and called up a map of Therum before zooming it in until the capital could be clearly seen. "Where are the sites Dr T'soni intended to visit?"

The Asari took a few moments to assemble her shotgun and got up in one smooth motion that looked more like a water flowing than a person standing up. "One is to the east – the second closest mine to us, the other to the north west – about fifty kilometres away."

John scrolled the map until he had it centred on the mine. A call to the Normandy later and he had eyes on both sites. One had its entrance collapsed and distinct crater near it signifying an orbital strike. An annotation sent by the Turians soon followed – one of their frigates saw the Geth sealing the mine while some of their units were busy working on heavy equipment outside – equipment that while worse to wear could be seen in the live feed complete with pieces of Geth that were working on it. As John watched, a Turian shuttle landed in front of the mine and disgorged a squad of marines who swarmed the area.

"Strike-two Actual, Normandy Actual." Presley cut in. "We just got a word from Captain Quintus. His marines made contact with survivors in the mine you're looking at – our VIP is there issuing a distress call."

"Get in the Mako, we're moving out." Shepard ordered and sprinted towards the IFV.