Crossing the field was easier said than done. Several cloaked geth drones came down on top of the as they tried to navigate the rather confusing layout of the area. The very fact that the drones were cloaked meant that there was a high chance that they could be missing shots as the drones clapped back at them with alarming speed. Not the best situation to find themselves in.
Kacey found herself being extra wary as she carefully traversed the area; keeping her eyes peeled for any hidden drones. Naturally, it was not going to be that easy. The arrival of a Geth Prime was something that Kacey was waiting for. She knew that a fight with the geth was not fully complete without the arrival of a Geth Prime and a Geth Colossus, the latter of which Kacey imagined would be arriving soon. There was still time for that.
It was at this moment that Kacey was happy that she had brought Grunt along; she had brought him because the tank-bred krogan was getting agitated onboard the Normandy. With the way the krogan was fighting, it was like shooting the geth was a form of catharsis for him. Not that Kacey minded. As long as Grunt got the job done, Kacey was willing to let the krogan's excitement on the field slide for now.
She fired off another disruptor concussive shot, blowing the head off the Geth Prime as they continued forward. She ran past all of the sunlit areas towards the nearby door and went inside, waiting for her shields to regenerate and fix themselves as Garrus and Grunt made their way into the shade. As Kacey opened up the door and by extension the shutters in the room, Kacey could see the geth trying to get into the building on the other side, with a big Geth Colossus standing between them and the observatory.
"Fucking knew it." Kacey said, "Get down!"
The colossus fired a rocket at the trio, all three of ducked and rolled out of the way of the rocket.
"Definitely like old times." Garrus quipped.
As they ran down the steps at the side of the building, Kacey could hear a voice call over to her.
"Over here! Get to cover!"
Kacey then noticed a quarian in a red suit holding a rocket launcher hiding near the wall in cover and promptly joined him.
"Hang on, Shepard!" Kal'Reegar shouted, "Stay down before that colossus gets ideas! Still got no idea why you're here, but this ain't the time to be picky. Tali's inside, over there. the geth killed the rest of my squad, and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to is draw their attention."
"Are you sure she's still alive?" Kacey asked.
"The observatory is reinforced. Even the geth will need to get through it. And it's hard to hack a door when someone's firing rockets at you. The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself. I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."
"How bad is your suit damage?" Kacey asked concerned.
"Combat seals clamped down to isolate contamination, and I'm swimming in antibiotics." Kal'Reegar replied, "The geth might get to me, but I'm not going to die from an infection in the middle of a battlefield. That's just insulting."
"Any ideas on how to deal with the colossus?"
"Standard protocol with armature-class units is to sabotage the shields and whittle it down, you know. Kill it with bug bites. But the repair protocol blows that plan to hell. You try to wear it down; it just huddles up and fixes itself. So, whatever we do has to scrap that bastard fast. Probably means getting up close, past that cover."
"We need to get past the geth and get to Tali." Kacey said, "Got any ideas?"
"Just one." Kal'Reegar replied, "I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close. I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."
"You've done enough, Reegar." Kacey replied, "You don't need to throw your life away."
"Wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe. This is our best shot."
"We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team. Stand down!"
"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire!" Kal'Reegar replied, "They killed my whole squad!"
"And if you want to honour your squad, watch my back!" Kacey argued back, "I need you here in case they bring reinforcements!"
"All right, Shepard. We'll do it your way." Kal'Reegar relented, "Hit them for me. Keelah Se'lai."
The fight was a difficult one; Kacey opted to take the upper path with Garrus and Grunt, keeping to cover and throwing grenades to kill the geth as the clambering their way through. Kacey's justification for this was that it would allow them to get behind the colossus while also being in its blind spot. As such, it made the most amount of sense to Kacey.
It didn't take long to dispatch the geth and reach the other side of the catwalk. The difficult part was dealing with the colossus itself; she already given the order to hit it with everything they had. Garrus had fired rapid concussive shots while Grunt did a mix of shooting and melee. Again, she was grateful that she had brought the krogan along.
She was running out of grenades fast; she switched over to concussive shots as they continued to hit the colossus with everything they had. Even Kal'Reegar managed to land a few hits with his rocket launcher. After a few more minutes, the colossus blew up, leaving the trio with very little ammunition left.
"Tali?" Kacey said through heavy breaths over the comms.
"Just a second." Tali's voice came through, "I locked the door to keep more geth from getting inside. There. That should do it."
Kacey headed inside the observatory, with Garrus and Grunt in tow. As she entered, she saw Tali standing next to a terminal, preoccupied with the screen.
"Just let me finish this download…" The quarian trailed off. Kacey walked up the steps towards Tali.
"Thank you, Shepard." Tali continued, "If not for you, I would never have made it out of this room. *sigh* This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."
"A lot of quarians lost their lives here." Kacey mused, "Was it worth it?"
"I don't know, Shepard. It wasn't my call." Tali replied, "The Admiralty Board believed the information here was worth sacrificing all of our lives for. I have to believe that they know what's best."
"I didn't ask what some admiral thought. I asked what you thought."
"A lot of people died here. Some of them were my friends. All of them were good at their jobs. That damn data better be worth it. The price was too high."
"Whatever the reason, I'm glad I could help. Once you deliver that data, you could come with us on the Normandy." Kacey said.
"I promised to see this mission through. I did." Tali replied, "I can leave with you and send the data to the Fleet. And if the admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die."
"Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am." Kal'Reegar said as he limped into the room.
"Reegar! You made it!" Tali exclaimed.
"Your old captain is as good as you said." Kal'Reegar said, "Damn colossus never stood a chance."
"If need be, the Normandy can get you out of here, Reegar." Kacey said.
"The geth didn't damage our ship." Kal'Reegar replied, "Long as we get out of here before reinforcements show up, we'll be fine."
"Actually, I won't be going with you." Tali corrected, "I'm joining Commander Shepard."
"I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened." Kal'Reegar said, "She's all yours now, Shepard. Keep her safe."
…
Kacey was relived that Tali was joining them. The quarian's presence put Kacey at ease a little bit. But it was still a concerning thought. It was bad enough that Joker and Garrus were dragged into this, but Tali too? The Illusive Man was hesitant to allow Kacey to recruit the quarian, but Kacey assumed, as Garrus had previously suggested, it was the Illusive Man trying to stay in her good graces. To keep her in line and comfortable, especially after Horizon.
She was standing in the Briefing Room with Jacob when Tali joined them. Jacob observed the quarian carefully as she walked in.
"Cerberus saw footage of you in action, Tali'Zorah." Jacob said calmly, "We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit the mission."
Tali paced the room, watching Jacob carefully, "I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice."
"That's why you're here, Tali." Kacey said, "I need people I can trust."
"I wasn't part of what happened to the Migrant Fleet, but I understand your distrust." Jacob responded, "I hope we'll get past that as we work together."
Tali scoffed, "I assumed you were undercover, Shepard. Maybe even planning on blowing Cerberus up. In that case, I'll loan you a grenade. Otherwise, I'm here for you. Not for them."
Kacey tried to hold back laughter; the irony was too much. She made a mental note to fill Tali in later before continuing.
"If it helps, check out the Normandy while you're here." Kacey said, "We've gotten a few upgrades."
"I'll get Tali'Zorah the necessary security clearance to access our systems." Jacob said.
"Please do. I can't be part of your team if I don't know how the ship works." Tali replied in a passive-aggressive tone, "Remember, Shepard, these people thought enslaving Thorian creepers and rachni was a good idea. I'll be in engineering."
"I'll see you there in five minutes." Kacey said, only loud enough for Tali to hear, "I've got something to tell you."
Tali nodded as she headed towards the door, only for Jacob to call after her.
"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI, the ship's new artificial intelligence." Jacob added.
Both Tali and Kacey glared at Jacob as he left. Tali headed down to Engineering while Kacey remained in the Briefing Room alone, a small smile on her face.