Doctor Liara T'soni
Disclaimer
Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.
Mass effect is the property of Bioware.
Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.
SSV Normandy - Therum
Urdnot Wrex.
The plan of the alien had worked.
The stratagem to split the fleet that they indeed had discovered in orbit went down without a hitch and the path for their vessel was wide open.
But now?
Wrex was laughing.
He was really enjoying his time as they began to quickly fall from the Normandy.
Shepard had the fantastic idea to have their Mako dropped from the safety of the Normandy's cargo bay and everyone around him was screaming their lungs out as Shepard took his sweet time to engage whatever he had in mind to stop the mako from crashing at terminal velocity.
"HAHAHA" Wrex screamed "STRAP YOURSELVES IN PYJAKS!"
"SCREW YOU SHEPARD!" screamed Garrus and Ashley at the same time. Kaidan was silent as he was in the cockpit with Shepard while he was most likely glued to his screen as to tell shepard of the right altitude to engage the thruster and stop their descent.
Tali had most likely fainted, her body moving limply in her seat. At least she remembered to buckle her seatbelt on.
And Xiltar was just mumbled something along the way while his armor was repeating his thoughts "stupid terrans… stupid terrans… stupid terrans…"
Shepard engaged the truthers at the last possible second so they wouldn't be flattened like a pancake. And like that, the fun came to an end. Wrex was sad :c
"DAMMIT SHEPARD!" the human named Ashley screamed "I ain't letting you drive after that. Get back here right now!"
"Hell no Ash…" he tried to retort but Williams just made his way to him, unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed him by the collar and proceeded to launch him to the back of the Mako with the rest of them "Auch" he said as he picked himself up and made his way to an empty seat.
"Where to, commander?" asked Kaidan, clearly taking a jab at Shepard's situation.
"Just follow the road…" He said as he crossed his arms "Garrus, take the gun. Make it a spectacle for the Geth" he was now looking at Tali as she was finally waking up.
"Is it time to clean my suit?:.." Tali said as she rubbed her visor "... Where am I?"
The mako suddenly began to move and everyone jolted slightly to the side as they moved. As it would seem that the humans had decided where they should go. It was roughly a few minutes of bumpy roads and travel before they suddenly came to a stop and Garrus called to everyone "Wake up people there seems to be a geth dropship coming our way!".
Indeed there was, this particular ship had been identified as the main mode of transportation used by the geth as this had been deducted as they saw several of them operating in Eden Prime.
Wrex guessed that its destruction would be a spectacle to see.
"Shepard, they just dropped something made of metal straight ahead. Patching visual" as Williams said this, a holoscreen materialized in their section of the tank.
What appeared before them looked like some kind of metal creature, it stood on its four legs and began to make its way towards them.
"An armature…" Tali began, her knowledge on the Geth would come in handy, Wrex thought "They are slow moving, but a shot from their cannons could puncture a hole through the mako's shield"
"What cannon?" Shepard asked, a bolt from the machine's head was his answer "Oh shit. Ash dodge!"
The mako rocked some more as they most likely just jumped over the shot, useful.
"Good dodge. Garrus, drop their shields and take a shot straight to their heads" ordered Shepard, the slight shimmer emanating from the machine betrayed the presence of a barrier.
"As you say, Shepard" a turrent of shots from the mako's machine gun made quick work of the shield and as he followed up with a precise shot from the main turret left Wrex impressed.
"Well, you got a nice shot turian" said Wrex as he smiled, since he had just taken a shot out of the conventional range of any tank cannon.
Impressive.
They then proceeded to make their way towards the main concentration of geth in this sector, a mine shaft from what their scanners told them.
Two more of the constructs appeared. They were right next to each other.
"Hey, Vakarian! Drop their shields and hold onto something!" This time it was Ashley. What could she be thinking?
Oh.
Wrex smiled again and Xiltar looked at him with concern.
As Garrus made their shields disappear Ashley proceeded to put the pedal to the metal and rammed those blasted machines.
"Damn it ash! And you say that I drive like a maniac!" A smile betraying the commanders yest.
"Can it skipper" She said in a childish manner.
By the time they had almost arrived at the mine shaft most of the time had been used clearing out more armatures along the way. After the 50th machine being scrapped the event lost all fun.
Bummer.
"Shit… Shepard, we can't continue with the Mako" exclaimed Kaidan this time "We will have to walk the rest of the way".
"Roger that. Joker, come and pick the Mako, we will have to hike the rest of the way" ordered Shepard over the radio "All right ladies, time to go and get our hands dirty. On the double!" Wrex was the first off the tank, itching for a fight that didn't take long to materialize.
The group entered a narrow spot between some rocks and continued to walk in eerie silence for a few more moments.
As their approach neared a cliff they suddenly fell right into an ambush. They quickly took cover behind the rocks around them. "Shepard. How many?" asked Wrex as they were focusing their fire on him.
"Thirteen on the cliff" he ducked to dodge a bolt aimed at him "five snipers over the ridge on the left. They will try to flank us…" he then quickly started to give commands to the squad.
"Garrus try and pick up as many of their snipers as you can. Ash, give him a hand on that" they nodded and began to take shots against them. They were dodging but some shots managed to land and threatened to destroy their barriers "Xiltar, can you cloak and get behind the main group?" picking up on what he was thinking, the protos nodded and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Good "Tali, Wrex. Make your way around the bottom of the cliff and wait at the approach for my command. Wrex. give Tali a barrier as you approach. Kaidan and I will give you covering fire".
The snipers on the cliff were being suppressed by the turian and the other human so that wouldn't be a problem at the moment. Shepard gave the order to approach, so Wrex and Tali made their way up the base of the ramp that led to the top of the cliff and when Shepard motioned for them to advance they began the perilous climb. As they did this Wrex placed a barrier around Tali, forgoing his own so that he would be allowed to charge at the enemy.
Shepard made good on his word.
He kept them focused on him so that they wouldn't notice their approach. A moment before they began to destroy the machines Shepard screamed at the top of his lungs: "NOW XILTAR!" this confused the machines and that nanosecond they took to process the event gave the protoss the chance to strike at them.
The air cracked with the swing of his weapon and the alien revealed himself in the midst of the group so they wouldn't notice his approaching allies.
The both of them joined in the carnage.
As Wrex charged a group of three that had gathered too close to each other they began to shoot at him.
Too late, Wrex pushed through the first, tearing him to pieces with his charge, the second he pulverized with his shotgun while the third he grabbed by the face and launched it off the cliff.
A gunshot from Shepard's direction confirmed that it was destroyed.
He turned around and found that another three had been scrapped by the protoss. Wrex imagined he had been dodging their shots as they fired at him. Tali on her part had been launching small devices that stuck to the geth and fried their circuits.
They had destroyed the group before long.
"Good. I see the mineshaft up ahead" began Shepard, as the group began to regroup around him. They began to relax but as they did so they heard a gunshot go in their direction and the barrier around the commander crackled and disappeared as a shot passed through it. Up in the sniper's perch remained a single geth. Before they could react they saw as black smoke formed from behind him. Xiltar emerged from that smoke and stabbed the lone platform in the back while lifting it from the neck, the chassis melting to slag.
He had been next to them just a moment ago.
The group was shocked by this gruesome sight.
"He… He could teleport all along?" Garrus asked in disbelief. He, like most of the group, was surprised by this particular revelation.
"Yes… about that" Shepard began "He explained it to me once I was debriefed on his skills… I did not believe it until I saw it".
"How the hell is that possible?" This time it was Kaidan who made a question as he was rubbing his head.
"Bloody hell, how?" Ashley was staring angrily at Shepard.
The poor fool was gonna get it.
Xiltar just kept glaring at them and motioned his head to the side, as if inviting them to join him.
Wrex? He had a smile on his face, reminding himself to have a looong chat with the protoss.
They made their way up to the mineshaft.
Not a single geth in sight…
This was clearly a trap. Shepard sensed this and commanded his team to split into two parties. Shepard, Xiltar and Wrex continued to move across the empty stretch of ground between them and the main entrance.
And the rest of the team kept a close eye on them as they continued, but then Xiltar stopped. "What's wrong man?" Shepard asked, concerned.
"The ground… Its loose" Wrex looked down and noticed this. They were on a volcanic planet, the ground couldn't be this loose unless…
Oh.
"EVERYONE SCATTER!" shouted Wrex, after a small tremor a group of geth with strange shapes emerged directly from below them. They rose from the ground without completely breaking it. As if… swimming.
The rearguard reacted quickly and began to shoot at the geth. The ambush might have been effective if they had all gone as one group.
After the geth had been eliminated Shepard turned to Wrex "Thanks Wrex. How did you know they would come from below?".
"There are creatures on Tuchanka that do the same thing…" began Wrex "But they always leave a gigantic crater wherever they rise from".
This was true, for the ground where they had risen from had returned to normal, as if they hadn't housed a small group of geth before.
Shepard shrugged it off and ordered the group to make their way to the tunnel.
Xiltar remained behind for a moment, just glaring at the ground.
This was familiar to him.
Liara T'soni
A day and a half had passed.
She had run out of curses to scream at the heavens…
She had run out of strength to punch the field with…
She had run out of hope…
She was certain that she had almost run out of time.
And then she heard as someone fell from the now ruined elevator shaft.
"AAAAAAHHHH" the figure fell in front of the gate entrance. A few meters away from where she had been left by that machine.
The doctor only had concern and confusion in her mind as she saw the figure lay flat on the ground.
A voice called from above "Are you alive Shepard?" Liara tried to look up but found that her sight was obscured just at the right point that she couldn't see the origin of the other voice.
She did not know who this Shepard was.
"YES, ASHLEY!" Shepard screamed back, he picked himself up and cracked his back as the one she supposed was Shepard fell on something hard "I'M HAVING YOUR ASS COURT MARTIALED FOR THIS!" laughter came from above, as ropes began to come from above and before long a few persons descended from them. "NOW YOU USE THE ROPES?!" the one named Shepard continued.
He was mad from what she could see.
She remembered her own situation "YOU, OUT THERE!" she screamed as she found renewed strength to bang against the barrier. He turned to her, thank the goddess "The geth trapped me in here. Please help" the rest of his squad made their way down. Other humans, that was obvious. A turian? Okay, maybe they were pirates. A krogan? They were definitely pirates in her eyes. A quarian? she wasn't so sure anymore. and… "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" she covered her mouth, after realizing that she had said that out loud.
"Rude…" this sound came from the other side of the barrier. It just glared at her, she was even more scared now.
"Dr. T'soni?" Shepard asked "We heard you might have been in trouble, we came to see if we could offer aid" they knew who she was and had offered help. This was either a miracle or her mind was playing tricks on her.
"Yes, that's me" she answered meekly "Please, you have to find a way to open the barriers!"
Shepard looked around but only saw the console on her side of the barrier, she might be doomed after all. "Xiltar, could you get to the console on the other side?" the commander asked the alien she did not recognize and as the creature nodded it approached the field before inspecting it.
She did not know who this Xiltar was but found the possibility of somebody getting to her side of this ancient energy field that easily a ludicrous prospect. There had to be another way around.
How did they intend to get to her side, by teleporting?
He did.
The creature she did not recognize had teleported to her side of the barrier and proceeded to deactivate her containment field as if he had done so a million times before.
As she fell to the floor and struggled to get up a million questions began to form in her mind.
This was scientifically impossible, this broke every law of science and repudiated quantum knowledge as if it was nothing. How?
She then heard something in her mind, a voice (You really don't have a good understanding of what is possible. Liara T'soni) was it him? "She is innocent Shepard. Matriarch Benezia betrayed her and killed the rest of her team".
Huh?
"Did you read her mind?" the alien nodded as the commander asked this "Thanks for the information, but remind me to have a conversation with you later on".
Reading people's minds, what?
"Understood, Shepard" he said in a dejected voice.
Who were these people?
"Forgive me for the late introduction. I am commander Shepard, alliance military and member of the special tactics and reconnaissance branch of the citadel" He said so as he helped her to stand up.
A specter?
A HUMAN specter?
What had happened while she was down here?
"Shepard I'm detecting movement from above…" said one of his companions, a human man "GETH, get to cover!" they all retreated into the prothean structure.
The one named Xiltar activated the barrier once more without trapping them in another barrier.
They were safe, but trapped.
"This isn't good commander, they have cut the only way out of here" Another human spoke as she examined the geth on the other side-
Maybe not, thought Liara.
"There might be another way around" the asari said while she began to limp towards the center of the structure. The only thing she could do while trapped in the barrier was gaze towards the entrance or what laid within the structure.
There was a massive pit below them. Even though the structure emitted a faint pattern of light that ran downwards none ever reached the bottom as the darkness stretched for several levels down.
Liara reached for a panel near the abyss, and pressed what she thought was the button to call the platform.
One began to lower itself from the upper levels. She did not have the opportunity to see how far was the top, but she was just glad that they did not have to go to the bottom.
"Good catch, doctor T'soni" Shepard said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She perked up, not knowing why this simple gesture made her happy. "Squad, if there's a way out through there we might have to face off against more geth. Be ready" As the platform descended they saw as it indeed stopped in their level. They boarded it "Liara, do you knew how to make this thing go up?"
Liara nodded and took a look at a panel near the center of the plataform. That one had the symbol for heaven in Prothean. Was it up this whole time? Focus Liara, check your theories later "This one" As she said this the platform began to rise, thank the goddess.
"Great, we should be able to find an exit once we reach the top" said Shepard. As they reached their destination they began to make their way towards the exit, but found that a group of figures was making their way towards them.
It was a group of geth soldiers.
Accompanying them was Krogan battlemaster and another geth of gigantic size.
"HA. seems you were right, machine" began the krogan "Surrender or don't. I don't care" before Shepard could answer the geth spoke.
-Objective found- the massive geth looked directly at her, but suddenly its gaze turned towards the one called Xiltar -Eden Prime anomaly detected- its head light turned red -Previous priority rescinded. DESTROY THEM-.
The geth began to open fire on them and forced the group to search for cover. The battlemaster was shocked by this display of aggression, but then decided to charge at them all the same.
"TAKE COVER!" Shepard ordered. Liara didn't have a gun with her, so she ran towards the back of the room. Once she was certain they weren't shooting at her she took a moment to peek around the corner, she was impressed at the coordination her rescuers showed.
The turian and the human woman, who she deduces must have been Ashley, were giving long range fire support to the rest of the group not that far from where she was now. They were taking shots at a pair of geth snipers that were near the gate entrance.
Shepard and the other human man were shooting the geth that had decided to try and charge at Liara's direction.
A geth was about to flank them before any of the two could react.
A small disk went through the air before it landed on the chest of the robot and after a moment of confusion it fried the machine and made it malfunction. The quarian, who was on a blind spot to her sight, had their flank covered to Liara's relief.
The krogan on the side of her rescuers began to fight the enemy battlemaster. He showed experience, as he tackled his counterpart to the ground and began to stab him between his head plates.
Due to the reaction of the enemy battlemaster he must have found the experience utterly painful.
The last piece of the confrontation perplexed her the most. The alien she didn't recognize had begun his battle against the massive geth. He was striking at the machine with a blade that emanated from his wrist.
His movements showed caution as he restrained his attacks after not finding his engagement to be a quick one. He had stopped approaching his enemy due to something that surprised the doctor as well as the alien.
The geth must have had some sort of personal vendetta against the alien, as he seemed to use a weapon that emulated that of his enemy as a metallic blade that emerged from his arm was edged by what seemed to be the orange glow of omni-tool technology.
The geth seemed to also approach his enemy with caution at first but began to strike in a more consistent and drastic manner as he saw his opponent on the defense.
The one called Xiltar looked surprised, since the geth's shielding had withstood several strikes form his blade as their duel continued.
The geth on its part began to swing at him with more ferocity. And even when a blue shield emanated to prevent its hits from landing, the machine never relented. As they were evenly matched none could get an upper hand on the other. The geth had begun to take puck shots with its free arm, but found that his pistol was useless against the shielding.
"I remember you, machine. You should have remained dead" Xiltar said, apparently he knew this geth.
They began to launch strikes against each other. Eveytime they landed a hit their shields would stop their momentum, but they wouldn't last long.
-You are a heresy against the designs of our lords- the geth responded -Countermeasures procured- it struck once again, but this time the machine moved with far more speed than before as a blue glow shined briefly in his arm and blade.
This broke Xiltar's shield and struck a spot along his side, this pierced the black material that covered that spot and reached deeply into the creature. He in turn teleported a few meters away from the machine and kneeled to the ground as he clenched the spot where the strike had landed.
The geth remained in place for a moment as it cooled down for a moment after it used that charged attack.
As the geth made its way towards the kneeling alien in order to finish him off, it failed to notice as a small disk landed right at his feet. A small electric shockwave signaling that his almost depleted shields had been taken care off.
Liara saw that the quarian had been the one to launch this disk in the geths direction.
The asari then took this chance and mustered what strength remained in her, she then proceeded to create a small mass effect field around the machine's torso and pushed it towards the gate entrance. Not managing to push him all the way out of the chamber but she had taken it out of balance.
"Good work Liara, we are almost done here" What Shepard had said was true. While the geth and the alien had been fighting she had lost track of the rest of the battle. Almost all the geth had been destroyed. Garrus and Ashley had taken care of the few geth who dared to get out of cover.
The krogan battlemaster stopped struggling as the krogan on their side trusted his knife deep into his mouth, getting the brain from its underside. Kaidan got rid of the last geth as he made his way towards Xiltar.
With the rest of the fight resolved, shots began to be fired against the massive geth. The machine was on the defensive since she had taken it out of balance. Shepard began to make his way towards the entrance, firing his assault rifle as he did so.
It took some more shots from Ashley and Garrus, but they managed to push it all the way out of the structure. They were about to put an end to the machine when it kneeled and began to speak again
-Mission… failed…- It began -Contingency… protocol… activated…- its chest cavity opened and a familiar light in the middle began to shine.
It was element zero.
Then a red light on the face of the machine began to blink.
"IT'S A BOMB!" Shepard screamed as he ran towards the door control. He slammed his hand against the panel, activating the barrier in order to shield them from the explosion.
-Oblivion…awaits…you…- the geth exploded after it said these ominous words.
The explosion managed to cave in the passage they intended to take, a massive earthquake followed as the cavern they had originally came from collapsed.
They were trapped.
Afterword.
Kukuhimanpr - Xiltar begins to snort Terrazine… "Wrex"
Zacker1590 - Don't spoil the story for the rest boio :v (In all honesty, cool idea. Might do something with it)
By the way, the geth was vanguard. That bastard will never die /º\
InSaNEC - Hello m8, thanks for the review.
The reason as why his shield failed is due to two factors:
The first is that he could not restore them to full power. Where a zealot would have 50/50 points worth of shield he could only restore them to about 7/50. Not that much.
The second is that the thing that collapsed the shield wasn't the pistol. It was the omni blade.
On the part of the geth shielding: that comes for later friends :)
EDIT - ANOTHER ONE DOWN