Hello all, just a heads up in the notes at the end of this chapter. For now, enjoy.
"Marauders advance" A deep voice boomed from the Knight unit as it passed the halfway point of the bridge and towards the now blown-open doors of the command centre. The large arm cannons continued to fire to both the left and right, dealing with the lines of Collectors that still took cover on either side, trying to stop the advance.
Listening to the commands, all the present Marauders started to move forward and take out many of those who managed to survive the Knights attack. The Collectors were getting overwhelmed in every sense, and they wouldn't last much longer "Alright team, stay behind the Knight and keep it tight, we're nearly done" Garrus ordered as his team minus Mordin and Samara started to move forward, their weapons firing on any targets they could find.
"Team two, do you read? We're inbound on your location now" Miranda's voice came in through the com.
The sheer randomness of the statement caused Garrus to pause for a moment as they reached the halfway point of the bridge "Say again team one" he ordered back into the radio.
"On the right" Ashley's voice brought him out of his stupor. Quickly turning in that direction with his weapon ready for an attack from spirits only know what, he instead was met with a more welcome sight.
One of those floating platforms that the Collectors used to get around this station was flying towards them but on top of it was not the enemies they'd been fighting but instead their allies. The platform flew over the large drop that the bridge was stationed over, and as they did so their weapons fired along the walls at the Collector lines that had yet to be taken care of. The platform reached them quickly and lowered itself to be level with them "What are you lot doing here?" Garrus asked as the two teams quickly coverage with each other.
"What is that?" Grunt asked as it took a couple of steps ahead of them and looked at the Knight unit that was still advancing forward "I am supposed to be in the front" he argued with himself before running forward.
Miranda knew she should stop him but that wouldn't do well in this situation, it would be better if she just let the Krogan do his thing "The situations changed" she instead told Garrus as both teams now together started to move forward as one, all of them firing in different directions, taking out any targets they could see "best course was to merge and take the command centre together"
"What happened?" he asked as he quickly ducked to try and avoid some incoming fire but a round smacked into his shoulder, the armour and shield held. He was forced to crouch for a moment, thankfully Ashley was quick to move in front and fire at the one who went for him.
"I got ya!" she yelled as he continued to fire.
"Thanks" he said quickly getting up and raising his weapon, the now larger group started to move forward "So what happened?" he asked.
"We were wrong" Miranda started to explain "This station core isn't a core... well, it is but not for the station"
"What?" he asked back quickly, clearly confused.
"This station acts as more than an HQ for the Collectors" EDI said, taking over the explanations for the moment "Within the central point the station, where the massive power signature was located wasn't the stations core pair say but was instead a half-constructed human style Reaper exoskeleton" she started to explain.
"WHAT!?" the voice of Mordin shouted from the other side of the bridge as he was tending to Samara.
EDI chose to ignore that and continue onwards with her explanation "The core for the Reaper also acts as a power node for the station, we were unable to destroy the core with the current weapons we had available so meeting up and aiding your team seemed like the best plan going forward" she finished.
Of course, Team Two were shocked to hear that news but thankfully had enough experience in fighting to not let their guards be taken down "Alright, I'll let Clark deal with all that. Everyone form up and move forward, let's get control of this station"
Everyone listened to the orders and started to reach the endpoint of the bridge; however, they were unable to see the signal that a nearby Marauder sent back to Genesis.
Clark received the information ping the second it was picked up by the ship. They were building a Reaper in there? How the fuck...? There were many different questions that started to go through his head.
He shook them away, it didn't matter right now, Clark was quick to burn the thrusters and move Genesis closer to the station, the Reaper bodies forgotten about for the moment, as the massive ship moved to the station. It started to tilt upwards as it did so, the underbelly of the ship lining up with the station's outer hull, the fires still blazing as they did so. All across the underside of the large ship, two dozen ports opened and long tentacle-like appendages came outwards. Made of the same metal as the rest of the ship but not as thick as to allow for more versatility with movements. Twelve on either side of the underbelly of the ship, if one looked in-between the two lines one would see six large squire-like shapes that looked like they could pass for port stations. But one would be wrong.
Each one of those squares opened up and instead of seeing a hanger-like structure, instead, there was another layer of metal and from it sprouted weapon cannons. These were unlike the ones on the top of the ship, they were not meant for fighting, at least not in the most traditional sense for now he would wait, not able to do much more while the teams were on the station. For now, he would just get ready.
Eight of the twelve tethers latched themselves onto the station, locking both it and Genesis in place. All he had to do now was wait until he got the green light from the ground teams and he could get started. For now, he would sit and wait, go through some of the wreckage left over from the fighting.
The ground trembled all around them causing the team to nearly lose their footing completely, thankfully by that point most of the enemies had been dealt with and the primary source of enemy fire came from the large blown open door that the rest of the Collectors were behind. The large Knight unit stopped its advance as it reached the door "path obstructed, unable to proceed. Halting movement and providing covering fire" Its deep voice rumbled throughout the cavern.
The ground team watched as the Knight unit slowly lowered itself onto its heavy knees. As it did so the shoulder-mounted guns could get targets on the other side of the door and they started to fire.
"You heard the big one!" Garrus shouted as loud as he could for himself to be heard over the sounds of weapon fire "We're almost done! Everyone! Forward!" he added as the two combined teams started to move forwards.
Grunt being the one closest to the Knight was already through the door when the order was given. As they moved, Miranda had to admit, at the moment she had no problem letting Garrus take the lead on this one. He hasn't done anything worth objecting to and made all the calls she would have done, in the spirit of not rocking the boat and all that for now she would just let him continue on as the leader "EDI, what was all the rumbling" Tali asked as she was in the middle of group.
After a moment the A.I spoke "It would seem that Clark has manoeuvred Genesis in such a way that the ship has anchored itself onto the station" she explained.
"Why the fuc..." Ashley started to speak before she was interrupted.
"Never mind that!" Garrus shouted again "Stay focused we're nearly there" The two teams stopped just behind the Knights legs and used them for cover against a large amount of enemy fire "Jacob, Ashely, Grunt! Lay down some cover fire" he ordered and the only conformation he received from the Krogan was a dry chuckle.
"Everyone, move forward!" Miranda ordered this time, she and many others quickly moved into the large room behind the door and took cover behind some large pilers that seemed to be a mix of metal and organic components "Suppressing fire!" she shouted.
On either side of the room, they were split into two groups, both of which started to fire on the enemy. Thankfully that proved enough for Jacob, Ashley and Grunt to all move in and take cover with them. As they did so the remaining Marauders started to move forward slowly, not bothering with taking cover and walked right down the middle of the walkway in between the two teams.
Miranda hugged the edge of the pillar and looked forward. She could only count a dozen or so Collectors remaining. They all stood around what looked like a command table, but it was difficult to tell from this distance and without being able to see clearly due to all the weapons fire and blood. Two things however did stand out. Hovering over the table as a yellow hologram was the image of a Reaper, there was no mistaking that. The second was the Collector who seemed completely ignoring the attacking machines, it also looked completely different from the others they've seen so far.
This one was larger than the others, its body seemed to be completely different in shape. Instead of walking on two legs like all the others they'd seen, the lower half of its body seemed much closer to the ground and from what she could see, it had many skinny legs that gave it a centipede-like look. The upper half of its body stood up more like the others though there was no denying that it was far larger than the others. Instead of having hands like all the others, it had hands like claws and was more insectoid-like in nature. The most prominent feature it had however was its eyes, every Collector had yellow eyes but this one's looked like they could be used as lights in the dark.
If she had to take a guess, she would have said that this one was the one in charge. Based on the way it seemed to be quickly scuttling around the holo-table and pressing many different buttons and keys. Knowing that it could be doing anything, she realized that it needed to hurry before it could finish whatever it was doing. Turning back to those who stood ready behind cover with her, thankfully it seemed that the teams had stayed together for the most part. The only outlier was Grunt who was still marching forward, though when she looked Miranda could see that he was doing it slower than normal "Damit, he's not going to last much longer" she cursed "Jacob take EDI and go around the back hugging the wall. The rest of you with me down the middle. Let's go get the Krogan before he gets himself killed" she didn't stay and wait for them to confirm that they heard her, instead just turning around and getting ready to move.
And based on the Garrus just turned away from the others with him, he had a similar plan to her team. The two team leaders looked at each other for a moment before they gave themselves a small nod "Move!" she shouted and as one, all the organics started to move from cover. She and Thane moved out in the middle among the Marauders while Jacob took EDI around the other side hugging the wall. Garrus came out into the middle with Williams and Tali. Since they were two team members down already they didn't have anyone to spare to go with the wall.
Not that it should be a problem with so many of them, but she would be keeping an extra eye on their left flank just in case. The large grouping marched forward, each one taking on targets. Though her eyes did stray to their team's resident tank, he was taking on a lot of fire "GRUNT! GET TO COVER!" she shouted as a blast hit the Krogan's shoulder and he fell to his knees "Damit" said sprinting forward and lowering her weapon as she did so.
The amount of fire going at her was a lot but thankfully it was getting less and less due to the others covering her. Just before she reached the Krogan she slid on the ground to make the last couple of feet, she dropped her weapon on the ground and raised her hands. A biotic shield around the two of them, protecting Grunt from the rest of the fire "EVERYONE! MOVE UP!" she shouted not knowing how long she could keep this up for.
She didn't hear if any conformation was sent back to her and instead just tried to keep this shield up "You shouldn't have" she heard Grunt growl as he brought up his fist and punched the ground in anger "I can take this, it is who I am"
"You're an idiot" she snarled back as she looked forward to seeing that five remaining Collectors were firing on them not counting the one in charge "No more charging in from now on" At first she didn't know if he was going to follow that order but it must have been the anger coming off of her, the snarl on her lips or the fact she's in a relationship with Clark. But Grunt looked at her with his own look of anger before letting his eyes drop to the ground and nod.
The Marauders started to slowly move around them and finish off the last of the enemies, she noted that none of them were targeting the leader. Looking in the corner of her eye, she could see Garrus move up just outside her shield and aim his sniper. The large around sawed through the air and went right through the leader's head, however instead of just dying it fell forward on the table and continued to type away.
Seeing that the danger was now over she lowered her biotics and the group started to move forward. There was no denying that while all their weapons were up and ready, everyone was looking at the image over the table. When she stepped closer a more terrifying prospect became clear it wasn't just an image, it was a live image. Before anything could be said on their end another voice interrupted them "Organics, you've changed nothing" A deep voice seemed to echo throughout the large room "This galaxy has the attention of those who are infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers is your salvation through destruction. You have failed, we will find another way, releasing control" They all watched as the legs of the Reaper's body folded into itself and the image went further and further up into the air until it left the table and disappeared.
After taking a moment to think about that, Miranda was quick to reach up into her radio "Kelex, we have the control room" she informed the A.I.
"Understood lady Lawson" the A.I said back as a Marauder started to make its way forward towards the table. Everyone watched as its left hand left the barrel of its weapon and the metal that made up its hand shifted. After not even a couple of seconds the once very human-like hand changed to a stump full of small tendrils. The machine reached the table and without waiting a moment, slammed it into the table and all the tendrils spread out and looked like they plugged into all the different wires and circuit boards, upon looking closer all others could see that there was a small blue glow coming from the tips of each one "I am in the system, thank you all for the assistance. Now all that remains is for miss Goto to open the lines on her end" it told them.
"If you're in the system then why do you need Kasumi to do anything?" Tali asked as she leaned against the wall, slouching as she did so, clearly out of breath and tired.
"It would seem that the databanks are on a completely different network to this one. I need her to open the way, allow me access to start the hack and download the data. Based on her and Legion's friend or foe tags, they are about the reach the access point for the da... oh dear" Kelex suddenly said getting a weird look from all present.
"What is it?" Miranda asked aloud.
"There has been a miscalculation. I will need to aid them immediately. If you will all please head back and aid Doctor Solus and Samara, you can be taken back to Genisis for some much-needed rest" it told them before cutting off the connection.
Upon hearing the words, the team all looked at each other for a moment before slowly they all started to turn and make their way back out, though still holding their weapons tightly, not quite convinced that they were completely safe. All the Marauders took up a defensive formation around them as they moved. Thankfully they didn't encounter any surprise attacks "That was a hell of a fight" Jacob commented as they moved past the Knight unit stood up to its full height and started to walk down the bridge behind them, its weapons out and ready for anything.
"He was right about one thing" Williams said "I could really use a shower"
The team reached Mordin who looked up away from Samara as they did so "All alive, good. Happy to see mission go well" he commented before turning back to his patient "Samara should make full recovery, however, will be unconscious for a handful of hours. Complete exhaustion" he told them all.
"Well, let's get her back to the Normandy. I'm sure there's something Chakwas can do for her" Miranda said as she took one last look around the area.
"Must be careful when carrying, do not want to over stimulate body any more than necessary" Mordin said again as he stood up away from the Asari.
Before any of the team could move to pick her up, three of the Marauder units moved over to them. One in the middle passed their weapon to the one on the right who simply reached behind it and placed the rifle on its back. The machine kneeled down next to Samara and before the eyes of everyone else, its body started to shift and change becoming and completely different shape entirely "That will work" Mordin commented as the middle Marauder turned itself into a stretcher. The two other machines grabbed Samara by the legs and shoulders before gently placing her on the other machine. Then they both picked her up and started to move, leaving the area.
Everyone sat still for a moment as they watched that happen, nobody saying a word for several seconds after the machines left taking Samara with her. Jacob was the first one to speak and that was after giving everyone a look "alright then" With that said he started to follow them, everyone else doing the same thing. With admittedly a couple of limps as they did so.
And once again she was on her hands and knees, but not in the fun way. Kasumi then decided that she needed a vacation after this job was done. Once she and Legion started to move down the now pretty much pitch-black tube that led deeper into the station, it started to get smaller and tighter until there was no choice but to once again start crawling. Thankfully her hood was fitted with a lens that covered both her eyes, it had a multitude of features, most of which proved to be useful when it came to things like steeling and heists, a lesser-known feature was night vision. It wasn't perfect but it got the job done, she assumed that Legion had all of that built into its head in one way or another.
They'd been moving like this for a good thirty minutes now and it was starting to hurt to be completely honest, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up without saying that she needed a break "Goto Kasumi" Legion spoke up, his voice very low in order to not raise the alarm of anyone who might be listening "We are approaching the end of the tunnel" it informed her.
"Thank God" she gasped as they both carried on. After only a couple more minutes, she saw something, it was a dim light at the end of it all. It was something small as well but from this distance, she didn't know what it was. As they got closer, Legion moved from behind her to crawl beside her, since there was enough room she didn't stop it and didn't mind in all honesty "Can you tell what that thing is?" she asked.
"We are unclear as to the nature of this object" it admitted as the two started to slow down and they reached the end of the tunnel. Much to her displeasure, the tunnel was once again covered in the same organic substance that the rest of the base was made from, which meant she would need to take off and burn her clothes when she got back.
Reaching the end, she got her first look at their objective. She and Legion were practically pushing against each other as that was now the tightness of the corridor then where in, why it was designed like this she had no idea and she did not care enough to think about it. It was a fairly large rod-like shape that was sticking out from the end of the tunnel, at the very top of it was a small pale blue light. Around the base of it, she could make out at least five heavily armoured-looking tubes that seemed to hold wires from what she could tell.
"Are you sure this is what we're supposed to be looking for? it doesn't seem like a data centre of any kind I've seen before" she whispered, though she doubted considering she and Legion were pushing against each other from head to toe in this place.
"This is not a data centre, based on reports from station scans. This device is used to block out all outgoing signals to the station's data, allowing only hardwire transfers to be used and prevent hacking attempts. If we shut this done, it will allow for Kelex to hack into the station's data centre and download the needed data. When it and Clark Kent Superman are finished dealing with the Reapers. Yet we are recognizing energy signatures that this device is giving off" The Geth started to explain "We are currently unable to understand where, allow us a moment to rectify" it said after a moment.
"Alright, I'll get started I guess" she said as her Omni-tool opened up and she started to scan the device, thankfully both her arms were already in front of her so she didn't need to worry about all the fidgeting. While there was a chance she would set something off, it wasn't as likely as if someone else did it, she modified her own Omni-tool with the best programs she could find to make it as quiet, for lack of a better word, as possible in order to not be detected by things.
As she took the first couple of scans, she started to think Legion was right, looking at the energy waves this thing was giving off, there was something familiar about them. Frowning slightly and the information, she reached out to attempt a physical connection, though she might have to fidget with it a little bit to see if she could find a port or wire she could connect to. Legion's hand quickly reached out to grab her wrist before she could "Get back!" it said in a loud voice, it almost sounded concerned, like it did when telling others to get to cover "Goto Kasumi, retreat now!" it continued as it started to crawl back, bringing her with her.
"Why!?" she shouted back as she tried to shake her arm free, but the Geth wouldn't let go "What is it?" she asked it.
"Mi...to, list...Legion. Y... nee...vacate th...ea immedi...!" Kelex's voice came through the radio as well, not that any of them could hear it properly
Normally Kasumi would have been all too eager to step back from danger, but she was just getting in the zone "Legion, we just finished getting through these shitty tunnels and vents, you want me to leave?" while she wasn't proud of the fact that she sounded so angry, it was a normal response to all the shit she had to put up with to get here, though she hoped that it wasn't literal.
"That is not the data node Goto Kasumi, that is Reaper tech" Legion was quick to tell her. Que the panic that started to go through the woman as she heard that "you are not currently wearing protective gear. We cannot risk indoctrination" Legion added as it continued to drag her back, something she was all too eager to help with now.
Adding her own desire to leave and Legion's help was not needed, the two continued to back up from the device. However, she stopped after a couple of feet "Legion stop" she said to the Geth.
"We cannot be sure this is a safe distance for you" it said back to her as the tunnel started to widen once again.
"Enough with the dragging!" she shouted, using her free hand to pull her pistol and point it at Legion.
She hated doing it, despite it all she liked the Geth but this had to stop. Legion looked at the weapon and stopped moving. Both of them stared at each other for a moment before the Geth let go of her hand. Now that she was free, her weapon lowered. Kasumi sat on her butt and leaned back against the tunnel wall, Legion stayed in a crouched position and didn't move an inch "We can't leave" She turned her head and looked back at the light "We have to get that data" she said to it.
"Negative" it shook its head at her "The risk of indoctrination is too high, we must evacuate" it said, still not moving from its spot.
"Where?" she asked it "Clark's out there fighting Reapers, and the teams are all across the station doing who knows what. I doubt Kelex can just send back up right here to help with all the work he's doing" she turned her head back to the machine "we just need to open the link, a minute and thirty seconds at best. We can do it, both of our people need this"
At her statement, the Geth turned its head and looked back at the light "We do not want to risk losing a teammate, least of all to the Old Machines" It turned back to look at her "We will secure the link and open the way" it turned and made ready to move towards the light, only for Kasumi to quickly move.
"You're just at risk of being taken over as I am" she told it as she placed a hand on its shoulder "Don't think that just because I'm a pretty face I didn't read the reports, indoctrination can take over machines even easier than us organics" she pointed out as she scooted in front of the Geth "It's safer if I go" she added before turning to move forward.
Only for Legion to move reach out and grab her shoulder "While you are correct that my programs may be taken over quicker, it is also easier to fix. Based on previous conversations with Kelex and EDI. We are confident that we will be able to purge the virus of the Old Machines from this unit" it explained to her.
"Sorry Legion" Kasumi gave it a shrug "I'm not in the business of risking my friends" She started to move forward and smiled mentally when she wasn't grabbed or stopped.
"Neither are we" It was so quiet she almost didn't hear it, what she did hear was the quick footsteps behind her. Turning around to see what Legion was doing, she only had a minute for her eyes to widen before a metal and organic fist collided with her face.
As the fist connected with Kasumi's face, Legion watched as she went down. The organic wasn't completely unresponsive, she lay on her back in a daze, her head moving back and forth as she no doubt tried to get back up or make sense of the situation. However, there was enough force in his attack to cause temporary damage to her central processing unit.
With limited time before she could recover, Legion moved forward back towards the unit "Unit Kelex, we are unable to know if this message is being received clearly, if so please be ready for we are about to open the way for the data hack" it said into the radio as it reached the node.
"Le... about to... st...ay" was all that was heard back.
Being unable to hear the message and knowing that time was of the essence. Legion reached out for the node and started to take it apart, the first thing was to start peeling away the protect plates that kept the wiring safe. While simply throwing a grandee down here and keeping them both safe from indoctrination would have been preferred, it was not an option due to this protective shell.
It was sealed on tightly, Legion had to change its position, wrapping his hands around the plate and braising his legs against the wall it was attached to. Thankfully the added strength was able to do the trick and the plate peeled away.
'OUTSIDE VIRUS DETECTED'
His system was quick to report, he understood why immediately. Acting quickly he moved in and could see that behind the Pannel wasn't wiring or circuits but a bright light that seemed to be a type of power core, it was small. Smaller than his own but two-thirds but upon scanning it, it was easy to tell that it was giving off an impressive level of power. And immediately spreading the influence of the Old Machines however it could. Legion knew that it needed to act quickly and purge its own systems of this Virus or it will be able to integrate with it completely. If it could commence a hard reset of his systems within a lotted time, he would be able to rid the current unit of the virus without any further steps. If it takes too long to do so it would need to undergo heavy system repairs by both Kelex and EDI.
Knowing this, it quickly reached behind to its waist and grabbed the sidearm. The pistole was not the preferred weapon of choice but any weapon would do. It aimed the weapon and fired right into the core. It only took three shots for the core to ignite, the resulting explosion knocking the unit back far enough to reach Goto Kasumi who was only just starting to regain her primary cognitive functions. Knowing that this unit was too damaged for regular communication due to the blast, Legion had to resort to other methods of communication 'the data node was made open, requesting medical evacuation. Caution, indoctrination has begun' The message was sent on an open frequency before it had no choice but to shut down and restart its systems.
Both teams slowly made their way back to the hangar that they arrived in and the progress getting there was slow. Not too unexpected considering everything that was going on and everything they did, a little exhaustion was hardly the worst thing they experienced. Every one of them where still concerned for the Seeker swarms but Kelex told them that they seemed to be staying in close contact with the half-built Reaper and were not moving. That was fine, as far as Miranda was concerned they could die with this place. Just as they were about to turn the corner and enter the hangar, EDI spoke up "Miss Lawson, a message is coming in through the Normandy's QEC. It's the Illusive Man"
Miranda let out a tired sigh as she heard that, stopping in the large doorway. Seeing the two shuttles waiting for them, the others all walked past her and started to make their way towards them. She doubted they would leave without her but she couldn't blame them for wanting to sit down. Though she expected that they were all either going to pile into one shuttle or split into two, whichever one held Mordin and Samara was going to leave immediately, most likely on Mordin's insistent.
"Patch it through EDI" she said bringing up her Omni-tool. She only waited a minute before the image of her boss appeared in front of her, projecting through the orange device "Yes sir" she said in a professional voice.
"Executive Lawson" he started with his back straight and two hands behind his back "I must say you truly are a credit to the human race, with the Collector base taken we can finally use it to secure human dominance in the galaxy" There was no missing the firmness and ambition in his voice.
"I wouldn't go that far sir" she said back just as calmly as before "Once he knows the full picture of what's been happening in this station I very much doubt Clark will want to leave any of it intact"
"On the contrary" he said back confidently "based on my estimations from reports and conversations with the man. I'm confident that he'll see the bigger picture, he's not the type of man to leave resources like this to go to waste. He's too pragmatic"
As much as she wanted to disagree with him, she found that she couldn't. Miranda knew that Clark was a good man, the Illusive man was right. Despite how pure of heart and morally good he used to be, Superman has darkened slightly with age and his pragmatism was undeniable. But surely he wouldn't let a place like this stand. Not after all that's been done here, right?
She was about to open her mouth to speak but stopped when the sound of footsteps caught her attention, quickly turned around to look over her shoulder. She saw that both Legion and Kasumi were being carried towards them on stretchers by the Marauders. She quickly turned to move and walk beside them but thankfully she couldn't see any horrifying injuries, so she didn't panic too much "Let me rephrase that sir" she said as she moved with the injured into the shuttle on the right, inside was herself, Mordin and Grunt who were all standing against the walls. In the middle of the hold were Legion, Kasumi and Samara who were all knocked out "Do you really think that Clark will let you have the data he gets from this?" she asked as the door to the shuttle closed behind her and soon she felt the rumbling of the shuttle taking off.
Despite having a face-to-face with her boss, she couldn't help but look out the window as they moved. Her jaw nearly dropped at the sight before her, and she knew Reaper ships appeared in the system and started to attack. Yes, a part of her was worried for Clark, not because she thought he would get hurt, but because she didn't know how well Genisis would hold up against the Reaper ships.
It seems it wasn't needed, from what she could see the dreadnought didn't have a scratch on it. The ship looked just as pristine as when it was when she first saw it. Though the position was a little weird, the ship was pointing upwards and ran alongside the Collector station. The underbelly of the ship's hull looked like it was about to touch the station, though that seemed unlikely as Genisis was being kept in place by eight large tethers, each one connected to Genisis from just shy of the edges of the underbelly and latching onto the Collector station with large and heavy looking metal claw-like clamps.
Directly in the middle of the underbelly split into two lines, she could see six square-like formations lined up next to another line of six. She watched with scientific fascination as from each and every one of them. Large, thick rod-like shapes came from each one of them, though it was difficult to see from this distance as the shuttles flew to the Normandy.
The rods started to twist and get thinner like a lens would for a camera, she could see a purple energy form around the base and moving up each one. Then after just a moment, each rod fired a bright, thin but no doubt powerful continuous beam of energy shot out from each one and struck the side of the station. She couldn't see from this angle but she doubted that the station's outer hull held up for more than a moment against those weapons.
"I'm sure that he can be convinced of the need we have for it" The Illusive man continued "If not then I'm sure you can make a compelling case for it" As he said that Miranda looked away from the window and looked at the image with a confused look. She knew what compelling meant, he was saying that she should sleep with Clark in order to better manipulate him 'Did he not know?' she thought to herself with genuine confusion.
She just found it odd that he would know all about the station and that they took it so quickly but he didn't know that she had Clark had been having sex for over a week now "I'll get right on that sir" she decided to say as she hung up the call without another word and looked back out the window. The beams were moving in perfect unison, and she could see that they looked to be cutting the entire station into pieces.
It was difficult to see the lines exactly, but she didn't need to, after a moment the beams stopped and the clamps started to dig into the station more and more, breaking it into pieces. She could hear Mordin take steps towards the window, leaving Samara where she was to get a closer look at himself.
It was incredible to see, the station start to break and fall apart as the clamps dug into the pieces that were just cut. The rods that fired the beams seemed to close in on themselves and go back into the ship proper. Having enough of the thinking, she decided to get some answers "Kelex, can you hear me?" she asked.
"Yes, Lady Lawson. How may I help you?" Clark's A.I spoke through the shuttle's com.
"What is Clark doing?" she asked, crossing her arms as she watched the last couple of pieces of the station fall away, leaving what she could see as the half-built Reaper floating in space with nothing around it.
"Master El is currently taking apart the station in order to allow a clean transition of data. While I prepare all firewalls and cyber defences in order to make sure the ship systems are protected" the A.I told her, they both looked out of the window as one of the ship tethers moved forward towards the half-built Reaper shell and latched onto it in a tight grip. She watched as blue electrical energy started to flow around the metal claws "Commencing download" he added.
What she was about to say was cut off as the view of everything stopped and was replaced by the inside of the Normandy's cargo hold. The familiar sight of silver metal and cargo containers. The ramp to the hold closed behind them and the shuttle touched down, when it did the door to the shuttle opened and she was quick to step out. However not before she was met with the sight of Cerberus personnel that stood with their own stretchers waiting for them.
Thankfully they didn't freeze up upon seeing the Marauders that stood strongly and immediately started moving "It's ok, they'll take them to the Med-Bay" she told them and they were quick to step back "Head up and help Doctor Chakwas with what she needs"
She stood in place for a moment and made her way over towards the other shuttle, the others while no doubt eager to step out and move back up to the crew quarters, ergo, the showers and beds. But they could see that they would need to wait for the injured to use the elevator first "Joker, we're all onboard. Head back to Genisis, it's time we head back to the Sol system" she said aloud as she moved over to the others, leaning back on the open door as they all slumped together and waited for their turn to leave.
"Copy that, moving over to it now" Joker's voice spoke over the systems com "You guys see what Clark's doing to the station? That's impressive lasers, I want a laser" he added with a slight moan in his voice.
Everyone present let out slight grunts and eye rolls at the attitude of the pilot.
Clark's eyes were narrowed as he looked at the raw data that was being taken directly from the source. He was taking everything that he could and tried to understand. But even for someone like him, this was too much to take in completely at this time, he would need to go over it later. Though from what he could see already...
This was sickening.
Each and every Reaper is made up of the melted bio matter and uploaded minds of the people that are taken 'Is this why they call it a harvest?' he asked himself as he started to piece it all together. That's why there are smaller bodies inside the Reaper shell. As they melt down the biomatter, it takes the form of the species it came from and then the true Reaper form is added around it. If he wasn't so sickened by it, then he would have been impressed.
Thinking back to what he heard through the radio about how cross Miranda would be with him if he didn't destroy this place. He couldn't blame her, a part of him was thinking that he could take it over, maybe bring the Reaper with him for a more in-depth study.
After this?
The clamp around the Reaper shell tightened more and more until a large explosion erupted around its epicentre, this... thing will never be a Reaper. He wouldn't let it.
The data was downloaded now at least, with the movement of his fingers, pressing the right keys and a few mental commands. Genesis turned around and started to fly out the same way it came in. Though not before leaving a handful of powerful nuclear warheads behind to eradicate every last speck of what went on here.
He would head to the Normandy and help them out with Legion in a bit, the first thing he needed to was help get this data organized into packages that can be given as undeniable proof about the Reapers. That was the whole point of the mission after all, and truth be told, if they still denied their existence after this. Then they deserve to be wiped out.
Just a heads up guys, the reason this chapter is out later than normal is because I'm going on a small holiday over the weekend so I'm not going to be able to unload the next chapter on Sunday, So I thought that I would take some time to make a bigger than normal one this time. So, no chapter next Sunday but I'll start again the week after.
Anyway, let me know what you all thought in the reviews and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Next story update: Return of Hope.