Chapter 8
I don't own mass effect
I hopefully own my own life but then again I am a married man however so...
Just joking I love my wife (don't tell her)
Story start
We eventually reached the end of the road with the Mako after passing more geth and tunnels.
"Alright looks like the Mako can't go any further, Tristen, Alice your in charge of the Mako. Stay nearby just in case we need to pull out but then head back to the pick up zone." said Shepard before disembarking.
As we went past the entrance I tried to remember what could possibly be ahead. I sort of remember a geth sniper or two in a tower and some on the ground before that and some on the hill after that. Then there were more geth and armature and one of those hopping bastards but I couldn't rely on my memory of geth positions 100%, there had already been some differences and I didn't want to get anyone killed because a prime or armature showed up at a place and time I didn't expect it. Or positions where Shepard in front, Solana and Ash in the middle with Garrus and me in the back.
Sure enough, there were two snipers ahead, one in some kind of watch station while the other was just on the ridgeline and there were four other geth much closer with a fifth hiding behind a boulder to our left. The girls focused on the geth closer while Garrus and I automatically aimed at the snipers.
"I've got the one in the box." I said quickly aiming at the one in the station
"Got it." responded Garrus
It took a couple of arrows to take him down, one in the shoulder the other near the waist. After that I focused my attention on the geth hiding behind the boulder, taking it out with a headshot while Ash, Solana and Shepard finished dealing with the geth in front of them, the later using a pull to get one of them closer to her and away from a hex shield it dropped. From there we kept on the offensive and despite six geth trying to slow us down they didn't have much luck. Shepard switched to her assault rifle and we kept up the push.
Up ahead was the dig site/mine and I caught a glimpse of something moving quickly before it was gone.
"Hold on something ahead." I said
"Halt." said Shepard taking a knee "What did you see?"
"Don't know, was moving too quickly." I answered, I guessed it was that hopping bastard but I couldn't be sure
"Alright keep moving and keep an eye out." said Shepard
I was the first one to see the hopper, it looked like a spiderman nock off hanging on the wall. My first arrow missed as did Garrus's own sniper round, a couple of hops later I managed to hit it with a lift. After that it was almost easy to take it out, the second it falls my shields fails as it's hit by a red laser.
"Shit!" I said ducking down
"That's new." said Shepard looking around
"It was another one of the jumpers, caught a glimpse of it before it got away." said Garrus
"Alright lets find it and pin it dow..." started Shepard
"Commander you have a geth ship incoming!" said the female support officer
"Shit get to cover now!" shouted Shepard as we all sprinted for the nearest cover
Shortly later came the rawr of the engines of the geth ship as it came overhead before the sounds of multiple geth hit the ground.
"We have one walking tank, eight geth unit is and...fuck that jumper is still around!" said Solana, barely avoiding the laser
"We need to take the jumper out first, that bastard moves too fast to ignore. Solana, Ash focus on left, those guys do not get close understood. Garrus, Callum focus on that tank for now but take out that jumper if you have a shot."
With that we get to work, Ash and Solana took up a position that gave them a clear line of sight that was still out of fire from the tank while Garrus and me stood behind a crate. Garrus on the left closer to his sister and Ash while I was on the right closer to open ground...unless I made a break for it which I wasn't about to do unless i had to. Shepard acted as support, she was either helping Solana and Ash or Garrus and myself.
Initially, both myself and Garrus took turns at shooting, the geth Armature/tank couldn't target both of us at the same time, however partway through it seemed to realise something, we were both hiding behind the same crate so why try to take us out when taking the crate out first would be that much easier.
"Jumpers down, got four more geth on left side." updated Shepard
"Garrus you break left, I'll head for that crate on the right." I said
"You sure? That's quite a gap to make." cautioned Garrus
"It's either that or a single target." I responded
"Fine, ready?" asked Garrus
"Ready." I answered "3...2...1."
With that we broke, Garrus going left, me going right.
A couple more shots from my bow I decided to try a change 'let's try the pistol'
Switching weapons I pull the hammer down activating the one-shot and fired, the shot echoing unbelievably loud before the cool off started.
"What the spirits is in that gun?" asked Garrus
"Tell you later, can you get his attention?" I ask
"Yeah but make it quick." said Garrus "I don't want to attract the big organic killing machine too much."
A second shot goes right through the neck, it didn't quite bring it down instantly but it did send out sparks and cause it to start jerking making it easy to finish off.
After the Armature was taken down there was only a single geth unit left camping behind some boxes, unfortunately for it the second it peeked out it was taken out.
"Alright, Callum, Ash either of you see anything like this on Eden Prime?" asked Shepard, standing over the body of the geth hopper
"No ma'am, but if you remember Callum guessed that the geth could have a unit like this." reminded Ash
"Well Callum since you always seem to be on the nose about these things what can you guess about this guy?" asked Shepard
"Well..." I started thinking "It's got nearly no armour aside from kinetic barriers and looks completely different to any other geth unit. It's fast and mobile but lacks any melee weapons though those could be hidden. From the way it moves I'm guess it's more suited areas that are enclosed but open at the same time, like a crowded or full warehouse. Walls and boxes to hold on to or hide behind. I'm also guessing it's much stronger than it looks otherwise it couldn't move like it did. It would be weak and vulnerable in open areas that lack surface options. But the biggest threat would be sabotage, infiltration, information gathering, ambush and assassinations. They offer a very small profile when they crawl and I can just picture one of them sneaking up on someone at a campsite in the middle of the night or jumping down on someone guarding a server and snapping their neck after crawling along the ceiling and through vents to get that far."
"You make it sound like it's straight out of a spy vid." said Ash
"Think of every spy vid then this guy as the main character." I said
"...yeah okay you have a point." said Ash
"Hopefully we won't encounter too many of these but when we do they're going to be hard to deal with." I said before bending down and using my omni-blade to cut an arm off.
"Okay that's gross, why are you doing that?" asked Ash
"It must be made up of some sort of artificial muscle fibre so it could help advance our own technology from military applications such as stronger and a more flexible form of motorised joints to better prosthetics, I have no doubt companies such as Seraphtech Industries would love to get their hands on it." I said, using a bit of rope to attach it to my belt
"Then why not wait and get it picked up later?" asked Shepard "Or ask the mako team to come and grab it."
"Because who knows what will happen between now and then. You have to admit that we do seem to be rushing around a bit and for all we know there might be another geth unit around that will clean up anything the geth do not want us to find." I said, there was also the fact that this area was very likely going to be under lava but I wasn't about to say that.
"Good point...mako team." said Shepard activating her omni-tool
"Yes commander?" came Tristen's voice
"Grab some of the weapons and amour of those walking tanks it seems we're adding retrieval to our job description." said Shepard "It may be unorthodox but we're on sight and encountering geth more than anyone else. Tali is currently working in engineering I'll ask her if she can work with the alliance and try to...damn what's that word? You have advanced tech, disassemble...reverse engineer that's it! If she's able to help utilise the tech than it could be a huge help, it won't be what she signed up for but hopefully she'll be okay with doing a little extra when she can when not on the ground."
"If we're getting into the retrieval business it's off to a poor start, all these guns are useless." said Ash looking over the geth guns "They're completely fried."
"Damn but I can't say I'm surprised, I read a report that most of the guns recovered on Eden Prime were useless from some sort of failsafe. Grab the one that looks the most intact, I don't use a sniper rifle so I'll use the extra space to carry it." said Shepard
A short time later Shepard was carrying what looked to be the most functioning assault rifle that Ash could find without spending too much time looking around.
"Alright, the main dig site is underground in a mine, Callum, Garrus switch to short to medium weapons. Long-range is going to be more of a hassle than helpful, we haven't seen any sight of Benezia's daughter so hopefully, she's holding out somewhere and alive." said Shepard
"Commander, all respect but all these geth...well she is only an archeologist but she is also the daughter of Saren's second in command." said Ash
"So you're saying she could either be already dead or these geth are here to keep her safe or extract her. Honestly, you could be right but the university has records of Liara fighting off pirate attacks, nothing to this level but still. As for her mother being Saren's second in command well, she is only his second in command and I doubt Saren is the kind of person who would have a problem making up a story to explain Liara's death, probably blaming us in the process. This doesn't go against what I said before keep an eye on her at all times until we work out what's what." said Shepard as they headed towards the entrance to the mine
Shepard was in the front with her shotgun, Ash and Solana were behind her with assault rifles and Garrus and I were at the back with an assault rifle for Garrus and me with my pistol. A pistol I had ready when two drones appeared at the other end of the tunnel, I took one out while Shepard got the other. After the drones were delt with we came under fire from another geth unit after we exited the tunnel but even with it dropping a hex shield it couldn't hold out against Shepard, Solana and Ash. As they continued on the walkway Garrus and hung back to provide support from above. Not that it was really needed as the re was only one more geth and it was honeslty hard to tell who took it out, was it by my two shot from my pistol, Garrus's short burst from his assault rifle or Shepard's own three shotgun blasts? Either way it went down without getting a single shot off.
After that we rejoined the rest of the team and climbed aboard the elevator, something that I was quite nervous about
"What's wrong, don't like elevators?" asked Ash
"No, I don't like being in or on an electronic device that has been accessable to a synthetic enemy for who knows how long or been altered who knows how." I responded
"...that's a good point." said Ash looking abit worried herself
"You know with an enemy that has better hacking abilities it might be useful to write some sort of program that will lock them out for a bit. You know like prevent them from opening a door if we need to retreat or something." I said
"That's a good idea, I'll talk to Tali about it...hmmm we're going to be asking Tali to do a lot, I better think of something to make it worth her while." thought Shepard outloud
"The promise that the research and it's results would be shared with the Flotilla would be a good start." I offered
"Hold what are those?" asked Ash pointing a one of open spaces lining the wall, one of which I was expecting to hold a trapped Liara
"Honestly they look like some form of prison or containment cells."
"Realy I thought the Protheans were supposed to be the pinnacle of civilization, no crime just perfect living." said Solana
"There's not enough evidence to say that but as all species alive today have problems I really doubt it. In fact the only species that get close to being criminal free are the Hana and Elcor. I think part of the reason we give the Protheans the benefit of the doubt is because we want to romanticize them sort of like what a child does to there parents. Truthfully I think a lot of times we don't see the past as it truly was, we either exaggerate or down play how good or bad it was. For example true historians hate the term the dark ages due to how inaccurate it is, unless you personally lived through it you can't say with 100% accuracy what it was really like. The closest you can get are books and records which is why tyrants and dictators love destroying them, that way they can say whatever they want. Like crime has gone down 20% since they took power and there's no evidence to prove that they are lying. A similar problem is happening here, there is just not enough evidence one way or another. This could be a prison but it could just as easy be an office or some sort of lab where they made ground breaking discoveries. Or it could also be the bachelor pad of some rich Prothean asshole and these are just display cases."
"I have the feeling that your...different than most humans." said Solana as the elevator came to a stop
"Yeah but I can see where he's coming from. I can just picture these spaces being for any of those things he just mentioned, except maybe the prison cell, can't see anything that could be used as a toilet or waste removal." said Garrus
"I didn't mean it as a bad thing." defended Solana "Do you think many female turians would have left their home planet like I did?"
"You can talk about it later, we're here for a reason." interrupted Shepard
"Sorry commander." I said as I realised I fell into my habit of talking too much and going into too much detail when it wasn't needed
"It's fine just make sure you pick the right time and place alright?" asked Shepard, making sure that I knew while I wasn't in trouble she didn't want a repeat
"Understood commander." I respond
"Same here commander." added Solana with Shepard giving us each a short nod in response
"Good now lets head towards that second elevator, it looks like we'll need it to go any furth...contact!" shouted Shepard as the tell tale sound of drones filled the air and from the sound there was a lot of them.
Sure enough 9 drones appeared, I vaguely recalled drones appearing in the reality where this was just a but I was sure it wasn't nearly this many. Either way I had to react quickly, holstering by pistol I pulled out my sword I unleashed a slash that took out 5 of them while another two where hit with a glancing blow but were still operational. I then created a shield big enough to cover myself and my teammates from returning fire while I switch back to my pistol, with only 4 drones operational and 2 of those only barely it only took seconds to take them down.
"Okay...what was that?" asked Shepard
"That was an ability called Slash, basically I channel biotics into the blade and as I swing I release it."
"And why didn't you use it before on Eden Prime?" asked Ash
"It has it's flaws such as I can easily overextend myself and put me in a situation where I'm exposed. With my other biotic abilities I can hang back near cover to use as needed, with slash its full out offensive, in their face and if I make a mistake I'm in the open with no cover surrounded by enemies...I just don't have the experience to use it confidently yet." I answered
"I get where you're coming from, its the one of the reasons I don't use charge that much. It's a great and devastating ability but if I use it in a party this size I'm likely to get shot in the ass or disrupt targeting of friendlies who don't want to risk that." agreed Shepard "But when we get back I need you to talk to Kaiden and tell him what you know and try teaching him something before our next mission."
"Okay Commander." I said
Climbing onto the last elevator we make our way back down, when were nearly at the next platform there was a shudder that shook the elevator and an ungodly screech filled the air.
"What was..." started Shepard before being interrupted
"Hello...is someone here? Hello?" asked faintly a voice below us
"Looks like we have a survivor, Garrus see what's wrong with the elevator." said Shepard before speaking much louder "There is, who is this?"
"My name is Liara T'soni, I was in charge of the dig site before the geth attacked...oh there's also a krogan around too." said Liara
"Who else is down there? Did anyone else survive the attack?" asked Shepard
"A-actually I'm the only one here, this was a solo dig. The only contact I've had is a shuttle that drops off food and supplies every few weeks. Listen can you please help me...I-I'm stuck." said Liara sounding embarrassed
"We'll be right down." said Shepard "Garrus any chance on this elevator moving anytime soon?"
"No, and I have to say thank the spirits for failsafes and that we're going to have to find another way up." said Garrus
"You sure you can't get it fixed?" asked Ash
"Not anytime soon." said Garrus dropping the panel "I might be able to do maintenance and repair for most things but an elevator? Well I could but it would take a lot of time."
"Well we'll see what's the issue with Liara and then go from there." said Shepard opening the door "Now the walkways look completely fucked so everyone goes one at a time."
Exiting the elevator we step onto a broken platform carefully before making our way down, the walkway groaning occasionally. On the bottom level we found Liara suspended in a bubble behind a Prothean barrier.
"Hello can you hear me?" asked Liara
"If we can't hear you know how could we hear you before?" asked Shepard bluntly
"Ahh, yes I see your point. I'm sorry but I've been stuck here for some time." said Liara
"How did this happen?" asked Shepard
"I was looking for a safe place to hide from the geth. Can you believe it? Geth here? Outside the veil?" asked Liara
"Yes I can believe it." said Shepard dryly
"Anyway to get to safety I came here and activated the barrier, but I must have pressed something I shouldn't have as now I'm stuck and unable to move." said Liara
"Before we talk about how we can get you out of there I need to know what you know about what your mother has been up to." said Shepard
"M-my mother? What does she have to do with this?" asked Liara
"Your mother and a rouge Specter was behind a geth attack on a human colony that nearly wiped it out." answered Ash blunty
"WHAT! But why? There must be some mistake my mother wouldn't do something like that." argued Liara
"Sorry but she did, we have the audio to prove it. Do you have any idea why she would do that?" asked Shepard, eyeing her carefully
"No I do not, I have not spoken to my mother in many years and seen her in more. What caused her to do these things I have no idea and even then I am nothing like her, now help me." pleaded Liara
"I don't buy it Commander, she's Benzia's daughter. If one of my family went mental I'd have an idea why." spoke up Ash, much to the offense of Liara
"I'm telling you the truth I swear." argued Liara
"If it helps I think she's telling you the truth. Asari live for a lot longer than humans, it's not uncommon for arguments to last years, even decades or even more over family scuffles such as one of your sisters sleeping with your boyfriend. If something really caused Benezia to change over that time it's likely Liara would have no idea and even if Benezia change all children even when grown up don't often know their parents as well as they think they did." I said, speaking up
"Good point, well if you don't know anything and you're not with Saren why are the geth here for you? Saren wouldn't send this many geth just because Benzia wanted to make sure her absconded daughter was safe. So why are they here?" asked Shepard
"From what the krogan said outloud then he was after my knowledge of Protheans, though he made it obvious that I wasn't useful enough to guaranty my safety should I act out of line." said Liara
"Does the word 'Conduit' mean anything to you?" asked Shepard
"Yes! The krogan also mentioned that word as well, although all I know is that it had something to do with the Prothean's extinction." answered Liara
"Okay that's enough let's find a way to get you out." said Shepard "Question is how, also how we get back out?"
"I'm guessing those drones we took out earlier were looking for a way in." said Garrus
"Also behind me is an elevator, at least I think it's an..." started Liara
"Shepard we have contact." I interrupted spotting one geth in the back
"Shit, alright let's deal with them." said Shepard "Garrus, Callum stay here and provide support. Everyone else with me."
With Garrus and I on overwatch Solana, Shepard and Ash make their way down the ramp. Before they made it halfway down we already took a geth down each, it would have been more but a lot of them were hiding behind bulders. Spying a canister of sorts I took aim, I had no clue of what was in the thing but it exploded in a blue ball of fire, hopefully damaging (if any) geth nearby or at least distracting them from my teammates mometarily.
Speaking of my teammates it seemed that they didn't encouitner much resistance, well with the number that we dealt with outside the mine and with Liara trapped behind a barrier and a elevator that won't go up I'm not surprised. When Youthe brief firefight was over we gathered on ground level.
"Hey guys, I think I have idea on how to get past the barrier." said Shepard pointing at a nearby mining laser
"You must be crazy." breathed Garrus
"Well, there has to be a reason why the geth haven't already tried it." I agreed
"From what I see we don't have much choice, the geth have been looking for a way in with no luck and every minute we stand her is a minute where they can just go 'fuck it, let's just bury the bastards' and we end up stuck down here." said Shepard bluntly
"Ah yeah, point taken." said Garrus with worry in his voice
"Don't worry I'll ramp the power down so we only go through...whatever the Prothean walls are made up of and not set off an erruptioin." said Shepard fiddling with the controls to the mining laser.
After the power was lowered the laser was fired and burned through rock, metal and barriers as if they weren't even there leaving a crude tunnel behind and behind that was the elevator.
"Alright lets go save the asari maiden in distress." said Shepard dryly
Moving on to the platform behind the tunnel it took some time but eventually, Garrus got it moving and soon they were standing behind Liara.
"Hello." greeted Shepard
"W-what, how did you get past the barrier?" asked Liara
"You seem surprised? I'm sorry did you not ask us to save you?" asked Shepard with a smirk
"Yes of course, I merely didn't expect you to be able to do it so soon. The geth have been looking for ways to get behind the barrier for days." answered Liara "How did you get past the barrier?"
"There was a big ol mining laser out there, we decided to put it to use." responded Shepard
"WHAT! But what about..."
"Relax I'm not an idiot, the laser didn't get close to the lava." interrupted Shepard
"O-of course I didn't mean...that is...can you please just let me down?" asked Liara embarrassed "The button third from the right and the second down should do it."
And sure enough, it did just like I remembered Liara dropped to the ground, what I didn't remember was the ungodly smell that hit my nose. In hindsight I shouldn't have been surprised, Liara spent unknown days suspended mid-air that had to come with...problems. From the reactions of the others, they too could smell it but no one mentioned anything.
"Thank you...now if you don't mind I'd like to leave." said Liara as she marched back to the elevator.
Halfway there was the sound of an explosion above them before the ruins started to shake.
"Ahh...what was that?" asked Ash
"They must have found another entrance and cleared it with explosives." said Liara "We must hurry, these ruins are unstable and the mining laser combined with that explosion might have set something off."
"Shit! Joker change of plans, get to our location now! We'll meet up outside the mine." ordered Shepard as the shaking got worse
Climbing onto the elevator we made our way to the top, waiting for us were a bunch of geth units, one prime lead by a Krogan...probably a battle master and the remains of a wall.
"Looks like you saved us the trouble of going down. As thanks, if you hand the princess over I'll let you live...probably." laughed the krogan with a smirk as rocks started to fall from the ceiling
"We're not here to fight you, just let js go and there won't be any problems." responded Shepard, she didn't want a fight but if it came down to it there wouldn't be a choice
"Sorry but Saren wants the asari, and what he wants he gets. Kill them all, if you can spare..."
"Hold on, whats your name?" I ask suddenly
"Why?" growled the krogan
"Because," I said grabbing Liara's arm, making her flinch before drawing circles on it with my finger "We just had a krogan join us...I think his name was Wrex."
"So?"
"And he face was wrecked, but you...have a face so ugly that if I followed you I'd jump into the nearest black hole I could find. What, were you eaten and then shit out by Kalros herself?" I insulted
Instantly the smirk vanished as rage appeared over the krogan's face
"I'm going to enjoy riping your arms off." growled the krogan as he raised his shotgun
Throwing the doctor to the side I created a biotic shield just in time to stop a carnage shot that threw my arm back as the krogan charged. His savage grin telling me he knew full well he'd be in arm ripping range long before I could take him down. Halfway to me, I use my palm to knock the hammer back before firing into the skull of the charging krogan leaving a massive hole behind that not even a krogan could come back from. As he dropped to the ground and my pistol overheated, a singularity appeared behind him stopping further geth from coming closer, a singularity that I then detonated with a warp scattering the geth and making it easier for the others to take them out. Once my pistol had cooked down I cocked the hammer of my pistol yet again and fired at the geth Prime which was already being engaged by Solana while the others were taking care of the other units.
Instead of hitting centre mass like I planned, I missed and hit the shoulder instead. It still did a lot of damage, just not as much as I'd wanted to and once the pistol cooled down I put another round into it. That combined with the rounds Solana put into it was enough to take it down, while we took down the Prime, Shepard, Garrus and Ash advanced, taking out the other geth.
"We need to get out of here now!" exclaimed Shepard as she narrowly avoids a boulder from crushing her
As we bolted for the exit, Shepard barely paused to take out a geth that was trying to get back onto its feet, her shotgun making sure it couldn't get up agian. After that it was just flashes of falling rocks and dust as we rushed to to the exit accompanied by the sound of crashes from falling walkways. Luckily we made it outside and as the dust shot past us, blocking our surroundings from sight I bent over trying to catch my breath, my heart was hammering like a drum, my legs felt like jelly as shit and I swore I must have broken some kind of fucking personal record. Out of all of us the only one that looked more exhausted than me was Liara which made sense while Shepard barely looked out of breath. Overhead I heard the telltale sounds of the Normandy coming in from above, its approach clearing the surrounding dust.
When the Normandy was low enough the cargo bay opened and we climbed aboard.
"Good work everyone." said Shepard after the Normandy took off "Now I better write a quick report to the Council. "So we'll comms room in an hour, use that time how you want, Liara I suggest you use that time to refresh yourself and get checked over by Dr Chakwas. Callum do you mind showing her where everything is?"
"Of course Commander...but I think she could use more than the usual 3 minutes." I said quitely
"...good point." agreed Shepard before opening her omni-tool "Here's an override for the shower, it'll give you the extra time you need to clean up fully."
"T-thank you Commander." replied Liara as her own omni-tool activated
"Hey do we know if the ruins back there were completely destroyed by the way?" I ask knowing that Sparatus will be giving Shepard shit about that soon
"Hmmm, I'm still getting some readings from seismometers, so the ruins aren't destroyed, likely damaged somewhat but not destroyed. However, it will take months if not years of work to excavate the ruins back to how it was due to unstable ground."
"Okay, so it's not buried in lava so that's good." I said relieved
"Technically its magma, lava is magma that's on the surface of the planet." corrected Liara causing Ash to roll her eyes
"Nerd."
"Well thanks, the council would have given me trouble if the ruins were destroyed. Now go have that shower." said Shepard
After that I lead Liara up the elevator to the shower, only stopping to get Liara some basic clothes I walked her into the showers and guided her on what does what.
"H-have you been a soldier long?" Liara asked nervously
Meanwhile, I was trying not to think that I was a few metres from a naked asari.
"Not really, actually aside from you I'm the newest onboard and not by that much. I was on Eden Prime when the attack hit, been with Shepard since then." I answered
"I'm...I'm sorry that my mother was behind that. I still can't believe my mother would do something like that. Sure she wasn't perfect but I'd never..."
"It's fine, I won't blame the daughter for the mistakes of the mother." I responded
"Thank you, now how to I finish?"
"Click the one with no water, then click done when your finished." I answered "But before that you..."
"Okay...oh goddess." swore Liara
"What's wrong?" I asked turning around only to see
Blue Titties
OMAKE Red and Blue Effect
Shepard was annoyed, she wanted to use this mission as a chance to get some space from the idiots, the Mako did have limited seats after all and she decided to bring Wrex and Garrus not them.
However, that didn't happen. Somehow the red idiot in charge of the other idiots that went by the name Sarge had the time to attach a number of boosters to his ground vehicle so that it could follow them out...crazy bastards, at least in the Mako they were in an enclosed space and she guessed that Sarge either didn't know or just didn't tell Tucker or Griff just how far up they were. Having them did come with an advantage though, they made it that much easier to take out the geth on the way to Liara's dig sight...however once they found her...
"Hellooo there." sleesed Tucker when he saw a trapped Liara "Does anyone else smell smoke?"
"Smoke there isn't any smoke, at least from what I can see." said Liara confused
"Well there must be, cus your one smoking hot babe." grinned Tucker only to be slapped by Shepard "OW fuck!"
"Knock it off and go do something useful like look at the surroundings." ordered Shepard "Sorry about him he does that alot."
"Okay?" asked/answered Liara
"Good, now I have a couple of questions for you." said Shepard
Meanwhile a short distance away
"Oh shit yes! Hey guys look what I found!" shouted Griff as he held up a weird cannon/sword weapon "Oh how I've missed this thing."
"Excuse me can you please put that down. You might damage it and it's one of the few items I've recovered." asked/begged Liara
"Hell no, it's mine...why on earth would I put it down?" responded Griff
"Its a rare Prothean artifact you can't just..." started Liara
"Hey I found mine too!" said Tucker, popping up holding a small silver rod
"Can you please just stop! You messing with things you don't understand!" panicked Liara
"Of course we understand...there ours, if you want I'll let you see my sword later...bow chicka bow wow."
"Sword?" asked Liara, obviously not getting the double reference "That's not a sword, I believe it to be..."
"Hey look its Lopez!" interrupted Sarge cheerfully holding up a...head?
"Oh fuck." swore Shepard
"Lets see if I can get him working."
'Wait...what?'
"Estoy despierto, he vuelto de la nada oscura!"
(I'm awake, I have returned from the dark nothingness.)
"Lopez it's good to see you."
"Oh no, tú no. Por favor, déjame volver a la nada, déjame tener mi paz."
(Oh no, not you. Please let me return to the nothingness, let me have my peace.)
"I'm glad to see you to." said Sarge
"Wait, I thought the omni-tool came with a universal translator or something? So why can't I still understand him?" asked Griff
"Oh, I got rid of that one for all of us. Didn't want it getting in the way of the relationship we have which transcends all language barriers." said Sarge proudly
Deciding to ignore what was going on for the sake of what little sanity she had left to focus on talking to Liara. Until the sound of a mining laser activating followed the bellow slash scream of a krogan.
Later on call with the council
"Was the destruction of the Prothean ruins really necessary Commander? You're meant to be going after Saren not destroy every Prothean relic that you come across." insulted Sparatus
"Shut the fuck up!" exploded Shepard
"You can't talk to me like..."
"I said shut the fuck up or I'll shove your head up his arse." swore Shepard pointing at the Salarian councillor who's eyes widened at the threat
"Commander I understand that you're under a lot of stress..." started Tevos
"You shut it too our your head will be going up someone's ass too. Then I'll put a fucking glass plate widow and use you as a fucking plate window! Do you have any idea of the shit I've had to go through because of you idiots?"
"Commander!" said Tevos forcefully "I understand that you're under a great deal of stress, we also understand that you have some anger towards us for not believing you about Saren sooner."
"Saren, you think this is about Saren? This is about the idiots you put we with and forced to take on board." said Shepard
"It was deemed necessary, not only would there be an asset but the circum..."
"Asset? Do you want to know how those ruins got destroyed? The red headed idiot decided to try and use a mining laser to get into space in order to beat his enemies whoever the fuck that is. And thanks to Wrex standing too close I know what burnt krogan ass looks and smells like. Also, if that wasn't bad enough thanks to a remark about krogan redundancies I'm now wondering if Wrex has a second assehole. Don't fucking answer that!" shot Shepard as Valern opened his mouth
"Surely it's not that bad?" asked Tevos
"While I was on the ground Cabboose nearly blew up the ship with his omni-tool, it wasn't even connected to anything! Also in the little amount of time he's been here I have fifty cases of sexual harassment about Tucker, just Tucker. I've had to give permission for everyone to kick him in the groin if he goes too far just to avoid a walk off of every woman here. If he ever got on a girls only boarding school or a college full of asari maidens then I have no doubt it would either end in him getting everyone of them pregnant or one of them snapping and killing the bastard. Now fuck off." said Shepard before hanging up
"If I don't snap and kill everyone it will be a fucking miracle, starting with you Joker."
"The fuck I do?!"
"Check your browser history, five hours ago." ordered Shepard
"Okay...oh shit."
"Oh shit is right. I ever find out that you are on that site again, or any sight that uses any mention of my likeness doing shit like that again or tell Tucker about them and I don't care if it's fucking fanfiction. What I will do you will be so unholly that it will make the devil himself scream and run out of the room like a school girl that just had a dead rat dropped on her while she was taking a shit." threatened Shepard
"That, that ahh happened to you commander?" asked Joker nervously
"No, the bitch that did it though screamed when I proceeded to kick the door down and show her why she shouldn't do shit like that again, now get back to work. Shit, some times I think I should just say 'fuck this' and go become a pirate queen...speaking of which I wonder what my old drinking buddy is up to? I bet she never has to put up with shit like this."
Somewhere far, far away
"Achooo!"
"You okay ma'am?" asked a voice
"...I just sneezed into a glass of 3,000 year old T'quita, does that sound alright to you? Fucking think before you speak Anto."
OMAKE, Lest we Forget
It was a couple of days after we'd picked Liara when my omni-tool went off with a reminder. Seeing what it was I immediately went to look for the Commander, I eventually found her in the cockpit talking to Joker.
"Excuse me commander."
"What is it?" asked Shepard
"I was wondering if I could use the communication room for a couple of minutes?" I ask
"You know that's mainly used for mission reports and intel, not making house calls?" asked Shepard with a frown "What do you even want it for?"
"Theirs a broadcast from my home country that I want to listen and would like some privacy. If it's too much don't worry about it." I said
"No it's fine go ahead, just don't take too long alright." said Shepard
"Understood Commander." I said leaving
When I was gone Shepard turned to Joker "Open a one way channel to the communication room."
"Worried that he might be looking up porn?" asked Joker
"Please he's not you, also Joker I'm afraid to tell you but most men last longer than a couple of minutes." shot Shepard
"Wow harsh, I never pegged you as picking on an innocent cripple like me." said Joker making Shepard snort "Also you try to last long when you can break a hip doing it."
"A cripple yes, innocent? Hell no, I've seen your browser history, your last search was enough to trigger some red flags." said Shepard
"Ahhh, well...that is to say..." fumbled Joker
"Relax Joker, you're not in trouble. I could tell you some stories of me and the girls back at training just don't do it on duty...and maybe stay away from that site in future." said Shepard
"Yeah, you may have a point there. Anyway, if it's not that why do you want to listen in?" asked Joker
"Call me curious, Callum is the newest to combat outside Tali and a lesser extent Liara. While he has been showing more talent and better decision making than I would expect from someone with his experience I don't want to miss anything that could suggest stress or anything that could be a problem later." explained Shepard
"Well you're about to find out. He's just opened a connection of a broadcast that originates in...Sol system, Earth, Australia." said Joker
Over the comms they could hear what sounded like a trumpet playing before a voice started speaking
"With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children
England mourns for her dead across the sea,
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.
As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are stary in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain."
For a few moments the voice was silent before resuming
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them
Lest we forget"
After the last word was said the trumpet played again much slower
After that there was a much longer pause, so long that Shepard almost thought it broadcast was over before the trumpet started up again but this time it was much faster.
After that a woman started singing, though there was many voices in the background
"Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
We've golden soil and wealth for toil
Our home is girt by sea
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty, rich and rare
In history's page let every stage
Advance Australia fair
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands
For those who've across the seas
We've boundless plains to share
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair"
.
.
.
.
"Well that happened." said Joker
"What the name of the broadcast?" asked Shepard
"Anzac day, it's a war memorial and it seems have originated in...1915?" asked Joker in surprise
"Hmmmm" sounded out Shepard
"What?" asked Joker
"I don't know, something just seems odd but I can't put my finger on it." said Shepard thoughtfully