Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: This episode gave me some trouble when it was first being written, and again now, months later, when I went over it again. I want to say it is version 1.5. The pure "original" version 1.0 suffered from some pacing issues, which were ironed out.
Episode 11: Sensor Ghosts [Part II]
The flight back to the mine was a mad dash; Shepard was up in the cockpit with Nihlus again, though he did all the flying. They were about twenty kilometers away when the sensors first picked up the ship right in front of the mine. The shape of the heat blip alone was a dead give-away, but even without that, the vessel had no transponder they could detect. The confirmation that the Geth were in fact here was wholly unwelcome. Shepard sat there, trying to keep calm.
As far as she was concerned this was the most dangerous part of the whole operation, even more dangerous than the fight ahead, for a very simple reason. Approaches were not something one could easily control and plan for; especially when one knew the enemy would expect them. Ultimately, the Kodiak could do little if the dropship opened fire on them. Shepard saw the uncertainty as a loss of control, there was little they could if the dropship opened fire on the Kodiak.
"Nihlus, set us down behind the compound," Shepard said.
"Got it," he replied.
It was far from her ideal scenario, but she had no other choice. They could not land right in front of the dropship, and she would not expect the miners to open the airlock. There was no option to land back, away from the ship either. If they did that, they would have to foot the distance across an open space, just as exposed to the dropship's guns as if they were inside the Kodiak, except the Kodiak had sensors that would warn them of weapons warming up, and despite looking like a giant cockroach, in the right hands it could dance. She chose to bet on Nihlus' piloting skills and hoped that at some point the Kodiak would enter the blind zone of the dropship's guns, the range at which the ship simply could not lock on and fire safely.
She reached for the cabin comm, "Helmets and seals, people. We're making approach from the outside. Prepare for a sortie." She allowed herself to slump back in her seat, wishing there was some way to avoid this madness.
She idly wished that the Geth had parked a few kilometers away from the damn mine's front doors as they did on Eden Prime. Had they done that, she would have ordered Joker to destroy the dropship from orbit. This planet was not Eden Prime there was nothing here to destroy, so no one would have her head. Doubly so since the Normandy's nastier bite was not a kinetic weapon. But it was as if the Geth knew she might do it, and landed close to the mine so that she could not take the risk. The above-ground structure was hardy, but it probably would not withstand a whole damn ship exploding right next to it, and it would definitely not withstand a graze from the Normandy's main battery.
As the Kodiak turned toward their landing spot Shepard counted the Geth troopers parading around the mine. It was impossible to not see that the automatons watched the shuttle come in. A number of them turned to follow the shuttle toward the mine's rear, weapons drawn. "The welcoming committee is assembling," Shepard murmured as she got up from her seat. "Put the Kodiak with a door facing the wall and set it down."
"Got it. Try not to kill them all before I get there," Nihlus replied.
Shepard decided not to comment as she opened the door that led to the main compartment. She was not surprised that everyone looked up when she appeared, and then she felt the Kodiak bank and raised her hand to the ceiling for support. Then it turned on the spot and began to descend. Shepard glanced out the door windows and saw the kinetic barrier flare, the geth opened fire from below, but the shield was holding. "The Geth are rolling out the red carpet on the landing zone."
"Nothing we can't handle," Ashley replied.
Jenkins was the first to unfasten his safety harnesses and rise to his feet.
"No foolish heroism, people. Keep each other safe." She as she reached up to check her helmet seals one last time. That done she moved to the door opposite.
Their landing angle put one door toward the geth, but the other was about six meters away from the mine's back wall. Shepard tapped the door release and it hissed open. She only waited for the shuttle to touch ground before she stepped off, drawing her weapons as she did. It was impossible to miss that the Kodiak's kinetic barrier continued to flare, though less frequently now. It seemed the Geth were beginning to realize their infantry weapons would not do much to the hardy vessel.
She heard the clutter of weapon indicating that others had followed. "Kaidan, take bravo from the nose, Garrus, Tali, with me,"
"Roger," Kaidan replied.
"Right behind you, Commander." Garrus replied.
She heard a shotgun whine as it powered up, which must have been Tali's reply.
Shepard would have preferred to keep the quarian away from the fighting, but she could not be made to stay in the shuttle. It would not be safe for her, and she clearly would not do it. So she had to adapt. With that realization, she moved toward the craft's rear, automatically side-stepping the closest main thruster as she did, aware that it would be impossibly hot so quickly after landing.
"Just say the word, Commander." Kaidan said over their comm.
"Ready… Go!" Shepard said as she ducked out from behind the Kodiak, laser sights on, raised her guns, aimed at a single geth, and fired. The unit's shields flared on the first shot, but the second went through, the unit's head exploded in a spray of white fluids.
The marine's assault rifles come to life on the other side. The geth closest to the shuttle's nose turned sharply, while a second turned to her, stepping over the frame of its fallen brethren. Shepard ducked, aware that her choice of cover was somewhat limited. She could not press herself to the Kodiak because the main drive thrusters were simply much too hot right now.
Suddenly Garrus was there, rifle raise and beating an unfamiliar staccato, aimed right at into the chest of the geth that turned her way. The weapon's spread was almost non-existent, and its recoil clearly did not bother Garrus much. A moment later the rounds tore down the unit's shields, and it jerked once or twice as the slugs began to dig into its form. Shepard shifted her angle, raised Sin, and pulled the trigger, the unit's head exploded. She glanced over and nodded to Garrus.
There was a very sudden whine as another geth went down to sustained fire from the front of the shuttle. There were still three more units; one turned aiming at her, and another turned to the shuttle's front. Shepard raised her weapons and aimed, but stopped. The third unit froze like a pole, its optic opening wide.
"Got you," Tali said.
"Did you just hack that geth?" Garrus asked.
"It won't last long, kill them!" Tali replied.
As if taking a cue from the quarian, the third geth raised its rifle and fired at the unit that had turned to them. The blue rounds from its pulse rifle beat into its brethren, tearing down its shields. At that moment assault rifle from the shuttle's front replied in kind, spraying down the unit closest to them. Shepard stepped around the Kodiak's back and adjusted her aim and fired, the unit's head exploded.
The hacked unit froze again, and at that moment there was a burst of purple, green, and grey as Tali burst out cover. She was right next to the struggling geth in a breathless instant, shotgun raised to its head. One crack and the unit's whole cranial assembly exploded, sending white fluid splattering to the ground as the rest collapsed.
"Yikes." Jenkins said, tone full of awe all the same.
"As I said, my shotgun is not a fashion accessory," Tali said blandly.
"Good going everyone," Shepard stepped in, "Expect more all around. Kaidan, take Bravo from the other side of the mine, we'll handle this side."
"Yes, ma'am. Ash, Jenkins, let's go!" Kaidan called.
Shepard turned to Tali. She would be lying if she said she was not impressed by that stunt the girl pulled. Shepard did not know the first thing about hacking a geth, but doing it on the fly, for however long? "How often can you do that to them?"
Tali turned to her, "The issue is how long will it work? I'd say once, maybe twice more, before they adapt." Tali replied.
"Alright," Well she supposed that make sense. The geth network and AI were infinitely more complex than the mindless LOKI mechs she could target whole groups at a time by targeting their internal network. She raised her hand to her helmet comm, "Nihlus, did you decide to take a nap in the cockpit?"
"Do I look asleep?" he appeared from the shuttle, his shotgun ready at hand.
"The way you're dragging your feet... one could argue," Shepard rebuffed. "Tali you're with us."
"Yes, Commander." Tali replied quietly.
Shepard decided caution was in order and struck close to the compound's wall as she moved toward the front. Then she could hear shots from the other side, Vindicators, and some geth retorts, but the Vindicators were steady and the geth bursts were short.
They came to the corner just as one more geth appeared; she raised her gun, but before she could pull the trigger, a black and red shotgun appeared almost right over her shoulder, pointed right into the unit's face. There was a thunderous crack, and the synthetic's head exploded where it stood and it dropped to the ground like timber.
"Who is asleep now?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard snorted and peered around the corner, "There's three more. The closest is on the left, all yours Nihlus. I'll take the middle one, and Garrus the right one's for you. On my mark…" She waited for the unit on the left to come closer, so that it would be soundly within range of Nihlus' shotgun, the other two were a few steps further back, but that was not an issue for her or Garrus. "Go."
She moved around the corner, guns halfway up before she was even clear, hours of long practice made the motion of raise, sight, pull second nature, especially when sight was replaced with precision aligned lasers. The three geth raised their rifles, their reaction times quick as a flicker, the advantage of their synthetic processors. Shepard pulled the triggers, one just after the other. Her unit's shields flared on the first, but the second round went in through its face-lamp, blinding it. The other two geth fired maybe one or two bursts of pulse fire before Nihlus' shotgun gave two rapid cracks, and Garrus' rifle laid a tight cluster with a quick burst. Shepard fired another round into her geth, and it finally collapsed, followed by the other two.
"Three less to worry about," Garrus said.
"Keep moving. I don't want to fall behind." She replied as she moved forward, guns at a ready. She could still hear more rapports from the other side of the compound, but so far so good. She stopped right at the final corner and raised her hand to her helmet. "Bravo team, status report."
"We're good, Commander, making steady progress." Kaidan replied.
Shepard pressed herself as tight as she could to the wall as she scooted right up to the corner. The Geth dropship loomed overhead, so they probably knew, but at the same time they did not seem eager to come at them, which was all well and good, but not helping either. She peered around the corner and counted the units on the ground.
"Just four up front," she muttered and glanced at her team. Garrus and Nihlus were right there, weapons ready, she nodded, and swung around the corner, weapons rising, and fired, bringing down the shields of two of the units. A shotgun crack followed and one of them went down. She fired again, destroying the head of the other, and ripping through the shields of a third. Sin's status bar shifted red, thermal clip at capacity. Another assault rifle burst and the third unit collapsed as well.
The fourth robot turned enough to open fire and Shepard wheeled, pressing her back to the compound wall as she ejected the spent clips, though by her count she still had one shot in Dex. She heard an assault rifle, but no bullets came where she had been, and then there was a small explosion.
"I got it, skipper."
"Thanks, Gunny." Shepard reloaded her guns, feeling more than hearing the receiver bolts click, her eyes drawn to the ship towering over them. Sure it was frigate-sized, but up close like this it looked enormous. She could not help but wonder just how many units were aboard, and what stopped them from flooding the mine. It was a morose thought, but she never shied away from staring the worst case scenario in the face.
Then, with the dark thinking tossed aside, too counterproductive for right now, Shepard stepped around the corner, her team right behind her. Bravo team was already there, so the seven of them met up right in front of the compound's massive loading bay door, and the hole cut right in the middle of it. The opening's edges were charred and bent away from a central point in a tell-tale way, and it did not spell good news. "They got explosives, powerful ones if they can cut through this door," Shepard said.
"Keelah," Tali murmured.
Shepard stepped through the hole, tapping the side of her helmet to activate her lights. Inside there was a largely empty, yet familiar landing. The floor was a hazard of rails and foot-switches, lit up by a few scant safety lights. At the back, the delta of tracks came together and then began to slope down, vanishing into the maw of a tunnel of some sort, likewise lit up by sparse, dim safety lights.
Her armor provided a rather interesting reading of the environment. Due to the atmospheric conditions, the space inside the compound had actually pressurized when it equalized with the outside, but the breathable oxygen was diluted, she could see the volume percentile quiver, and it was slowly dropping as the oxygen still seeped out of the hole in the doors.
She supposed it made sense why the geth opted to blow the door, there was no way to open it from the outside. The miners probably wore heavy thermal clothing and breathing masks to get the ore carts full of eezo up here, and then aboard their transport ship. She scanned the floor carefully, but after a good half a minute she was happy to see no bodies or blood anywhere.
"No one to hold the fort in here," she murmured as she moved deeper in, and toward the ore tunnels. "What are they thinking?"
"They are goal-oriented, they do not think as we do." Tali replied as she stopped next to her, shotgun flash-light shining into the tunnels. "Right now, there is something they want, and that is enough for them to act."
"Guess we follow rails, and eventually find out." Shepard replied.
Tali nodded and Shepard began to walk, stepping over rails carefully. The quiet of the mine was near absolute, it sounded like the whole operation had been abandoned. The tunnel sloped down at a comfortable gradient, shallow enough that even pushing the carts up by hand would not be difficult, especially factor in that the eezo ore could somewhat lighten its own apparent load with just a small current passing through the cart.
After about a hundred meters horizontally, they arrived at a landing that swept, U-turn-like into a second tunnel that went even lower. The central block between the tunnels was quite wide, and down here its walls were covered in large, square slabs of what looked like white-washed concrete, or something like it, to keep the tunnels stable. The central hub was so large that with a start Shepard realized that the rail access wrapped around the compound's vertical shuttle access shaft.
The sound of their footsteps echoed ominously as they kept going, lower, and lower, following the rails. At the bottom of the second section was another wide U-turn landing that led to yet another, albeit shorter section of descending tunnel. At the bottom of that she could see another set of doors, lit up with lights. These doors were whole, but by the green panels on either side she could tell they were unlocked.
When Shepard made her way down toward them, they slowly opened on their own. For a brief moment she heard what sounded like a wailing banshee as the air rushed past to equalize pressure. These doors led to a much more familiar space, this was the bay they landed in when they first arrived.
"They must have left these unlocked, didn't want the geth breaking the mine's environmental containment by blasting a hole in all their doors. The environmental controls will re-establish atmospheric pressure and oxygen levels in a manner of minutes." Tali said.
All Shepard noted that there were no bodies or blood here either. The five shuttles were still in place as well, still covered in tarps. At the back of the bay the door leading further into the compound was intact, and unlocked, though closed. Shepard moved toward it, hands on her weapons, but not drawing yet. As she got closer to it, she realized that despite being unlocked, it did not open on its own. The environmental controls had to be overriding it.
"What now, Commander?" Kaidan asked.
She glanced back at the group, the hallways of the compound beyond were narrow, only three people could walk side by side, and that was assuming the geth did not either leave ambushes or booby traps in every doorway. Shepard was making no assumptions, no matter what Tali said about them. Best be safe rather than sorry.
"We need to get to the control room; the mine will have cameras that cover this compound. That will let us see where they are, how many there are, and what they're doing."
"I know where the control room is," Tali volunteered.
"Thank you. For now though, we need to move carefully, assume they have ambushes or traps set up. Also we're now between the geth in the mine, and the geth on the ship. Not ideal but-"
Suddenly a resonating, thunder-like sound echoed through the halls and caused the floor under their feet to vibrate. The sensation was not strong enough to indicate origin anywhere immediately in their vicinity, but it was not so weak that it could be mistaken for an earth tremor. Shepard glanced at her team.
"What the hell was that?" Jenkins asked.
"Felt like an explosion," Ashley replied.
"Are they blasting somewhere below us?" Kaidan mused.
Tali was clenching and loosening her grip on her shotgun, Shepard knew that if she did not have it, she would be wringing her fingers. "There's only one place they could be blasting. The collapsed sections. We have to hurry; they don't know what they're doing!" Tali jumped in.
"Easy, Tali, we'll get there." Shepard replied.
"It is a mess down there! Careless use of explosives might damage the remaining weight-bearing supports and cause further collapse." The Quarian went on.
"Son of a-" Shepard stopped herself; there was no time for that. "Alright, guess we're doing this as a hot run. Tali, you know the way down there, you'll show us. We proceed, checking every door along the way, I don't want surprises."
Tali nodded. Around her Shepard heard spent thermal clips hit the ground. A moment later she led the way deeper into the compound, with Tali next to her. When they passed the mess, Shepard glanced inside. She was glad to see the continuing absence of bodies and blood. There were no destroyed units or splashes of white fluids either, it looked like the miners took sagely advice and simply vanished into the tunnels rather than launch some brave, but ultimately foolish attempt to resist machines with superior firepower and unknown numbers.
About the only thing Shepard did not like was the fact that without going to the control room, they were going down into the bowels of the compound completely blind. She would be lying if she said she did not have some apprehension about the possibility of meeting the black unit again. There was a lot less cover here than there had been on Eden Prime. She did not want to find out how many bullets it took those vicious MACs to rip through kinetic barriers and then armor.
The fact that they had yet to meet a single geth inside was not doing her nerves a favor either. It was probably safe to assume that the others were somewhere more-so uncomfortable. She kept Sin partly raised, trigger finger extended to the guard. Right now was not the time to develop a dangerous sort of twitch.
Tali's shotgun swayed from side to side, sweeping the corridor with all the regularity of a metronome. Shepard glanced at the young quarian, and though she could not read any sort of expression past the opaque face shield of her envirosuit, there was just something about the way the young girl held herself, she seemed to bristle. Was Tali even as young as she seemed?
"You okay, Tali?" She asked.
"I am fine, Commander. But when I get my hands on those mechanical- I think I'm going to enjoy blasting holes in the lot of them."
Shepard grinned, "Take it easy, we are here to help."
They came around another corner, to another corridor; this one was flanked on both sides by a number of rooms. They were somewhere behind the mess hall now, somewhere only Tali had been before, which made it unknown enemy territory. Her training told her to be ready for anything and everything. The marines swept each unlocked room as they passed, making sure there was no geth hiding in there. Shepard was happy to see no bodies or blood throughout.
Eventually Tali stopped in front of a large set of doors, "This is the elevator, but because the shaft collapsed at the bottom, it only goes down two levels. We can also take the stairs."
"Both stand a good chance of being guarded," Garrus said.
"We take the stairs; right now the elevator is a box over a pit." Shepard did not say it, but she definitely thought it, that elevator had an awful lot in common with a casket.
Ashley was by the stairs access in a moment, her back pressed to the wall next to it. Tali raised her hand to the control panel. Shepard whipped Sin up, and as the door opened, her finger slipped to the trigger, fully ready to shoot anyone on the other side. When no one jumped out Shepard raised her right hand, palm out, and flicked two fingers forward.
Ashley was inside in an instant, whipping her weapon from side to side to check the corners. "Clear," she announced.
Shepard stepped through the doors, the rest of the group right on her heels. With the stairs narrow enough, they formed up into pairs, going down with some space in between as to make staggered firing possible without friendly fire. Yet even down here there were no geth to shoot, which was beginning to bother Shepard tremendously.
They went down two levels, but the stairs once went further. Halfway down the next flight the collapse debris began, what looked like chunks of pillar, paneling, and dirt had piled right across the steps in a haphazard fashion. Shepard could see why the scientists were putting drones through the gaps, they would want to know if there was anything buried in there prior to debris removal.
"They didn't blast through here," Kaidan noted.
"No, they would not. Any damage done to the stairs or the elevator shaft, and they would be trapped. But I think I know where they are." Tali said as she turned to the door panel. Shepard raised her gun. Kaidan was closest to the jamb this time, and pressed his back to it, assault rifle ready to take point. The second Tali pressed the button, Kaidan's biotics lit up, forming his barrier, he was through the door the moment it was open, with Jenkins right behind him, both sweeping the hallway before Kaidan lowered his rifle a little.
"Clear."
"Am I the only one becoming bothered by the fact that we've yet to meet a single geth down here?" Ashley asked.
"It is bothersome," Shepard replied as she stepped past the door.
"I would not complain, chief, who really wants to face them?" Kaidan asked.
"Okay, got me there, LT"
Suddenly there was another thunderous rumble, this time Shepard heard the explosion clearly and felt the shockwave as slightly more than just the floor vibrating at her feet. Dust rained from the ceiling, filling light beams. She instinctively looked around, taking stock of everyone else. In the back of her mind, Tali's warning returned. How many more blasts would the floors take? Or had Tali been underestimating the strength of the Prothean construction?
"We are definitely close; that came from somewhere almost immediately below us." Garrus said.
"There is a room over there at the end of the hall, part of the floor collapsed. It's a way down to the level below without using the stairs." Tali explained.
"Huh. Just a thought, but maybe that's why we haven't seen many of them," Jenkins offered.
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.
"We're a long way down. Takes time to get down here, will take longer to get out. Back home, we had a sinkhole on one of our fields once, and it ate our sprayer. It took hours to get it back out. Maybe the geth don't want to do a lot of hoisting."
"That's possible," Shepard clapped the corporal on the shoulder as a way of encouraging him as she passed him to follow the hallway Tali indicated. Shepard thought it was a good idea to encourage him to think on his own, and on his feet. Halfway down, her light beams landed on the door panels haphazardly laid aside on the floor.
The panels were jagged, blackened, and misshaped in the particular way an over-powered plasma cutter produced when it deformed the edges of the material it cut. Shepard hummed as she caught sight of the doorway where the panels belonged, their stubs still in place, protruding like broken teeth. Beyond was nothing, pitch darkness. This was definitely where they went. The geth had found a closed door that would not yield and simply cut them out.
She looked back, raised a hand, and flicked two fingers at the door. The marines moved forward, leapfrogging formation, Shepard drew her second gun and raised it. When they looked back, she nodded her head. The three of them darted inside, sweeping corners with their weapons and light beams.
"Clear!" Ashley called.
Shepard entered last, casting her light beams about. The room was not terribly big, but it was no closet either. Two chairs and a table stood off to the side. It looked like the scientists left some equipment here, but the geth seemed to have taken a moment to pulverize everything. She stopped cold when she noticed a pattern in the destruction. The damage was clearly done by kinetic weaponry with a spread and much force. "There's a black unit here," she said.
"Great, just great," Ashley replied.
As Shepard continued to scan the room, her eyes landed on the large radiating cracks. Tali certainly had a reason to worry, they looked quite deep.
"Watch out for that back corner on the left, that's where the hole is." Tali warned as she stepped into the room. "There was debris below, but if the geth cleared it, it will be a sheer drop."
Jenkins swept the floor with his rifle's beam, and stopped when it came to the edge of the hole. Shepard watched as he kneeled, and after testing the edge of the floor with a few thumps of his hand, he leaned lower still and lowered his rifle beam right into the abyss, "They cleared it alright." He said, and then turned his rifle just enough so he could look down the length of whatever it was down there. "It's all dark down here, lots of debris, rocks, and-" Jenkins straightened up sharply. "I think I saw a moving light beam!"
"They're close then," Tali said as she cocked her shotgun.
Shepard approached the hole and glanced down, her light beams spread widely across the floor. The bottom looked like it had been cleared of debris well enough, but there were chunks of debris everywhere; a careless jump could mean a mangled ankle on landing.
"You are going down there first?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard glanced at him as she holstered her guns, did that question really need an answer? She could let her marines enter a room, because she was right behind them to provide support, but this was different.
She kneeled where Jenkins had tested the edge before swinging her feet down. A moment to take a quiet deep breath and she pushed off. As her feet hit the ground, she folded, dropping to her hands and knees. Even then, there was pain. Jumping four meters was already enough for gravity to take over. She whipped Dex from its holster and raised it level with her light beams. When the pain receded, she straightened and drew Sin as she scanned her surroundings.
Another pitch-black room, the door cut out of its frame, left lying on the floor just on the other side, leading to another dark hallway. Her suit computer flashed an atmospheric warning across her HUD, oxygen levels had plunged to under ten percent of what they were on the floor above. Over the faint rasp of her air recycler she could hear faint sounds echoing down the long corridors. There was definitely movement down here, irregular sounds of things moving across the floors, debris skittering across other debris, and underneath it all, a faint irregular dripping.
"The room is clear," she said as she scanned about; looking for a way back up, there had to be a way back up, because it is unlikely the geth planned to abandon perfectly functional platforms down here. "There's no way up, I don't know how they planned to get out."
"There is access to the mining tunnels on all levels of the ruins, so probably some way into the system down there as well, though it might require clearing. The tunnels probably have interconnecting shafts; at the very least there is the ore cart elevator that connects with the rails." Tali replied.
"You know a lot about the mine, having only been here for a few days," Ashley said.
"I explored. This is the first Prothean ruin for me. The archeologists were also very eager to tell me things. They don't get an outside audience often." Tali explained blandly, as if that was the most obvious explanation in the world.
"You're a great deal of help Tali," Shepard replied.
A periwinkle glow and a faint thud of footfalls, Shepard turned, and found Kaidan had landed right next to her. He straightened as if he did not feel the impact at all, which if he had done what she thought he had just done, was probably exactly the case.
"Wow. I wish I was a biotic," Jenkins added.
Kaidan said nothing as he moved away from the landing spot.
Tali came next, and she landed hard, crumpling to her knees, staying down for a long moment. Shepard approached and almost put her hand on the quarian's shoulder when she looked up, "I will be feeling that tomorrow."
"Are you alright?"
Tali straightened slowly, her hand reaching to check on her shotgun. "Really, Commander, how many times are you going to ask me that? I am not fragile."
"I'm sorry." Shepard really was not that sorry. She could not help but worry for the young civilian in their midst. There was also no mistaking why Tali needed the suit she wore, and it was for more than just dealing with this planet's atmosphere.
Once Tali cleared the landing spot, the rest of the group followed one by one, with Jenkins being the last; most hesitant to make the jump. No one would blame him, given that he recovered from a broken ankle recently.
There was a loud thud somewhere outside the hallway. Tali jumped, clamping a hand to the front of her mask, though it did little to stifle the startled squeak she let out.
Shepard turned off her helmet lights for a moment to peek around the door frame, down the long corridor. What she saw gave her ample reasons to pause. At the very end of the long passage was another room.
Between here and the other room there was debris everywhere, chunks of wall panels, bits of ceiling, and other things Shepard could not hope to identify. The blasts had probably been general debris removal, to get to the door, which was now cut out of its frame. The geth had propped the halves upright against the wall, but one slid and dropped. At this point there was no telling where general decay stopped and blast damage started. The room itself was a mess of more chunks and detritus, and when the light of the robot's headlamps caught the floor correctly, it glimmered in that unmistakable way. The dripping sound suddenly made sense; water trickled into this part of the mine from somewhere, and in ample enough quantities to pool on the floor.
There were a total of four geth, two grey regular units, one larger darker colored command unit, and standing in their midst, seemingly absorbing any and all light cast on it, was a black unit. There was no mistaking it; the MACs ruined its quarian-like silhouette, grotesquely extending its arms almost right down to the floor. The regular units were shifting debris about as the black one stood over them, seemingly supervising the process. The yellow light it cast mingled with the blue-white light cast by the others, creating an odd haunting gossamer glow.
Suddenly the big grey unit turned, its bright headlamp shining right at them. There was a familiar electronic chatter and the smaller grey ones stopped, turned, and stepped to the sides of the black unit, shining their ghostly lights at them. The black one ignored it all as it approached something at the far back of the chamber. From where the black unit's lights hit the back wall she could see a glimpse of a large computer case.
She stepped around the jamb and turned her lights back on. The big unit cocked its head, as if listening, another brief burst of chattering, and suddenly it moved, walking toward her with measured steps. Shepard raised her gun half-way, but it kept its hands at its sides, away from the large weapon behind its back. Footsteps and the whine of weapons powering up told Shepard that the others had formed a firing line behind her, though she did not dare to look away from the big unit.
"Stop right there, geth." Tali ordered.
The unit cocked its head to the other side. Shepard could not help but feel the apprehension rising in her throat. There were four of them, yes, but could her team take down the black one without taking a hit? Were these the only geth here? Why were they not attacking on sight? What was at the back of that room that seemed to draw the black one's attention?
"You are expected," the big unit inclined its head, its voice deep with just a hint of that mechanical chatter, amply different from the voice she heard from the black unit on Eden Prime.
"Be careful, Commander. That prime has hundreds of runtimes for it to talk."
Shepard thought it was the least of her concerns, it was a somewhat tougher unit, but not as tough as the black one.
She reached up, activating her external link. "Expected? Does it wish to talk to me?" She asked.
There was another brief burst of chatter, and then the unit inclined its head in a stiff nod.
"Shepard, do not go near it!" Nihlus called.
"It wants to talk; I want to know what it wants," Shepard rebuffed, though even as she said that, she idly wondered if she was committing suicide. The way the grey units stood, on either side of the black unit, they looked like an honor guard. None of them reached for their weapons, even the black one seemed calm. Surely it was aware of her presence, and yet it continued to inspect whatever was at the back of that room. "Be ready to shoot, but don't start anything." Shepard ordered.
She made two more steps, and the unit turned to walk beside her back toward the chamber, as if ushering her. A couple more steps down and there was more chattering, mostly from the unit next to her, none in return from the rest. Shepard could hear footsteps behind her. When she got just past the door, the big unit stopped and raised its hand slowly, barring her from proceeding any deeper. "No further," it said.
Shepard stopped, now her light beams reached far enough, she could see the enormous computer that took up nearly the whole space along the back wall of the chamber. She could also see the giant cracks in the wall and ceiling behind and above it. A partial collapse in one corner threw debris on top of the cases. A steady rivulet of what looked like melt-water trickled from the largest crack in the wall, right onto the computer cases, and into them where there were openings and vents. The water had to be trickling out from the bottom somewhere for it to be all over the floor. Whatever the computers once contained was long gone. Even a few months of steady water inundation would have corroded everything inside past recovery.
The black unit turned slowly, its yellow lights focused on her. An iris-like mechanism in the central pair spun and narrowed the beams. With its extra height towering over her, they tipped down, as if the thing was giving her a look of absolute disdain.
"Shepard." It said in a deep, familiar voice.
Standing there among the geth, her skin started to crawl as if she had a colony of ants under her armor. She took a deep breath and let it out from her mouth, forcing herself to stay still when all she wanted to do was reach for the grenades behind her back.
"You know my name," Shepard observed.
"We know more than that," the unit responded after a long pause.
She supposed it must, if it had been reading through things that crossed Sparatus' desk. Nihlus' reports had passed the same desk.
"Your arrival was expected," the machine went on. "We are aware of your ship's stealth capabilities."
Shepard glanced back at Nihlus; did he put that much information in this report? No, she supposed he did not have to. The Normandy had been rigged silent over Eden Prime; the machines could have easily put two and two together. The Spectre stood three steps back from her, his shotgun in his hands. Garrus was right there next to him, assault rifle at a ready. She had her own honor guard.
"Good for you," Shepard replied blandly as she turned back to the black unit. If they wanted to threaten the Normandy, they would not find it, and even if they did, unless they hacked the Alliance intranet as they had hacked the Citadel's, the circle of those who knew about the ship's main guns was small. The Thanix cannons, even with their flaws, would still make short work of the dropship, and she could say they had to be field tested. The Alliance tested them during trial runs on space rocks no one would miss, but that was just target practice.
"Your attempts to stop us will fail," it continued.
Shepard raised an eyebrow, "I don't know about that, machine. From where I'm standing, I'm one for one on that. I'll be fair and I won't count that," she pointed at the computers behind it. Did it really think she would take a trash talk sitting down? "What used to be in those machines anyways?" It was a trite question to ask, and perhaps the black unit would not reply, but never let it be said that Shepard did not try.
"What these computers once contained is not for your kind to know," the black geth replied.
Miserable arrogant thing, but Shepard knew it was coming. The thing would not just spill all its secrets just because she asked nicely.
"Your interference on Eden Prime was unexpected." It went on. "We will ensure you do not interfere again."
Shepard heard guns cock, and reached behind her back slowly. That officially sounded like an open threat. "Do you think that I will just… surrender now?" her fingers closed around a grenade, but she hesitated. Would she be able to get clear of the blast? Something told her that she would, probably, but it would merely put her on the receiving end of those MACs if the explosive did not do its job. The odds were not ideal.
"Your surrender is not required, nor is it preferred."
A split second later there was chattering. Shepard looked to her left and saw the grey units reach for their weapons. The big unit that had escorted her reached for its own weapon as well. In a split of a second Shepard made the call, she would leave it to Nihlus and Garrus. The black unit's MACs rose from their dead hang, and she knew it was up to her to bring it down. The adrenaline hit her system with the realization of what she would have to do. With a burst of explosive acceleration that would make an Olympic sprinter envious, she was past the big grey unit and running straight for the black one as she drew Sin.
"Bring them down!" Kaidan ordered.
Shepard heard the Vindicators come to life. The black unit's weapons unfolded, the barrels extended into firing position, Shepard veered wide, and right behind the black geth. It fired, but the bullets sprayed past, hitting the wall. She turned on the ball of her right foot, and raised Sin.
"Shepard-" the black machine said, its voice deepening into a growl.
She pulled the trigger, the unit's shields flared. Shepard cursed, too far. The machine gave a chatter burst. A thunderous crack followed. The shields flared again. It stopped and swung an arm at the Spectre on its right, even as the left turned on her.
"Nihlus, get away!" Shepard shouted, even as she burst again. The machine fired both MACs, its whole frame jerking with the recoils. The bullets hit the wall behind her again, and when Shepard looked she did not see Nihlus. Panic flashed through her, bringing more adrenaline. It was too dark make out the details and he had turned off his lights, did the thing hit him?
"Hey, I'm right here!" She shouted as she slid to a stop, water splashing around her feet. Shepard cursed when she felt it, she knew if she moved too suddenly she could slip. A loud thud and silence behind her told her that the others finished with the other geth; she did not dare to look away from the black unit.
"You have become an annoyance," the machine said as it turned both its MACs at her.
"That's my line," She hissed. If that thing hurt Nihlus, she would turn it into Swiss cheese. Something was causing it to lag. It was the only way to explain the delay in every conscious action. The window was two or three seconds at most, but if she could just get used to the timing, she could use that as an opening. She had to remain focused on finding a window to get close to it, get her guns within its shield envelope.
The MACs unfolded, but she was already moving, the barrels extended, and then there was a resounding crack. Shepard yelped in surprise as her shields flared, and collapsed as her helmet HUD flashed a bright 'Kinetic barrier offline' banner. She looked up, the black geth, now headless, toppled to its knees and pitched forward onto its front with a heavy thud.
There stood Nihlus, shotgun still raised, so close that the muzzle must have been touching the back of the unit's head when he fired. She remained frozen to her spot, staring at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. He lowered the gun and ejected the spent thermal clip. It hit the floor right in the middle of a puddle, and the water began to steam and hiss, the only sound in the room.
"Commander, are you alright?" Kaidan asked, breaking the lull.
The Spectre slipped a fresh clip into his gun and moved toward her, "What were you thinking, Shepard?"
His tone was the coldest she had ever heard. Shepard opened her mouth to rebuff him.
"Telling me to get away? What then?"
The words died in her throat.
"Hey! Back off!" Ashley cut in.
Shepard looked down without saying a word. He was alright, heavens everyone was alright. The relief washed over her like a tsunami, and when it washed out it took some of her energy with it.
"Skipper?"
"Shepard! Spirits… did I hit you?"
The speed with which his tone changed from anger to worry was something. "Just my shields," even as she said that they flared back up, recharged, she glanced around. The other geth were indeed down, either riddled with bullets, or headless. The big grey one was slumped against the wall, oozing white liquid. It took an assault rifle burst near point-blank through the chest, and that left a hole big enough that she could probably stick two fingers through. Garrus stood over it, as if he could not quite believe it was dead, but he was watching her right now.
Her radio suddenly cracked and hissed. "Normandy to gr-nd team, Co-ander, co- in!" Joker called in her ear.
Shepard raised her hand at her communicator in an instant. "Shepard here, what's going on, Joker?" she demanded.
"The Ge- dropship took o-. I don't kn- what you did, - they're leav-."
Shepard smiled, she would count that two for two. "Oh we did things, and we'll do more. EDI can you hear me?"
"Of co-se, Commander. The- is some inter-rence, but it is with- tolerable limi-."
"Good. Do you have telemetry on where the Kilimanjaro hit the Geth ship over Eden Prime?"
"Yes, Command-."
"Perfect. Joker, bring the main battery online. EDI show him where to aim. Put a shot through, thirty percent power, maximum constriction."
"Ri-t away, Co-ander."
"Aye, -, ma'am! They'- not going to kn- what hit -em."
"Oh and EDI, could you record it?"
"It will - on your terminal - the Officer's D-y Room, Command-."
Shepard would enjoy watching the fireworks, because she had not been there during the trial runs. Shepard inspected her team. The marines and Garrus looked no worse for fear, and Nihlus was decidedly alright. Tali had walked into the room, still clutching her shotgun. The quarian watched her through the gloom. Despite the nearly non-existent lighting and her face-plate, her silver-hued eyes seemed to glow from within.
"The – appro-ing th- exophere," Joker announced.
Tali looked away and moved toward the black unit, sweeping its form with the flashlight of her shotgun.
"Ex- trajectory -lculated, adjusting -bital angle." Joker continued.
"Make it count, Joker," Shepard said.
"Easy."
"Keelah, I've never seen a geth like this," Tali murmured as she kneeled by the black unit and powered up her omni-tool.
"Ma- battery de-loyed and ch-ging!"
Shepard glanced at Garrus, and then Nihlus. They could hear Joker from the synched communication lines. Would they be able to tell that the Normandy's main battery was not a kinetic weapon? Both had their ways of getting at information. Idly she wished Joker would tone down the blow-by-blow, just this once. However, despite being a footloose with some regulations, she knew Joker took the salient portions of his job very seriously. There was procedure to follow, and he would follow it.
"Weap- lock confirmed, - geth have en-red the exos-ere, Comm-der."
"Fire at will, Mister Moreau!"
"Fire in t- hole!" Joked echoed.
Shepard clenched her fists, this was the tense moment. Firing the Thanix effectively revealed the Normandy's location. If Joker missed, or if the guns did less damage than expected, she would have to order Joker to take a second shot, something the Normandy could not do for five seconds, and he would have to nail it while avoiding any return fire. She had faith in her pilot, but there was such a thing as helmet fire.
"Direct -t!" Joker cheered. "Dro-hip destroyed!"
"I'd say that was a good field test," Shepard murmured.
"Hell yea!" the pilot laughed.
"I leave the rest in your capable hands."
"I aim - please."
"Shepard out," she closed the link before Joker's celebration could make him say something he could not take back.
She could not keep the smile off her face. Let that teach the geth not to trifle with her. She did not need a dreadnought to destroy them. Maybe it was petty, possibly quite evil, and Admiral Hackett might even say something about the debris, but with the planet's thick atmosphere, Shepard expected the majority to burn well on re-entry and drag to decelerate the rest. Factor forward momentum and she expected the meteor shower of debris to miss the mine by a wide swath. Other than that, there was absolutely nothing on this planet to destroy.
"We need to get back, tell the miners that the danger is over," She turned. "After that, well… we have a bit of a boon of Geth parts, don't we? I want to get a look, and definitely at that," she motioned to the black one.
Tali got to her feet and slipped her shotgun behind her back. "I will show you where the tunnel access doors should be." She said.
"Thank you, Tali. Failing that, we can look for something to stand on, if one of us has to climb back up the hole. Also I want to know if anyone's suit oxygen levels dip into three hours remaining. There is nothing to breathe down here."
She got a chorus of affirmative replies, and then followed Tali as she led them out of the room in search of the vaunted way out.
It took an hour, but they found a way out. Tali had been right, there was a door to access the mine tunnels on this level, but to get to it they had to shift through more collapse debris, which took a while. Tali was as resourceful as she was brave. When the door proved jammed shut, and with Shepard unwilling to blast and unable to cut them out as the geth had done, Tali popped open the access panel and within a few minutes she found the emergency pressure release that allowed the dead hydraulics to drain, so that the doors could be pried open.
After that, it was a bit of a walk through the tunnels, toward a section of lit tunnel, where signs sprayed onto the rock walls guided them toward the ore elevators. When they got back to the upper levels, and the control room, Shepard personally made an announcement over the mine's internal system that the geth had been soundly defeated, their ship was gone, and it was safe for the miners to come out of hiding.
An hour after that, they were back down in the computer room, with the archeologists and some of the miners. The scientists were giddy. The miners exercised their curiosity. Shepard used the miner's curiosity for her own benefit. She let them get all the hands-on poking qs they loaded the geth onto flat wheeled dollies, the only way to shift bodies that weighed easily over a hundred and fifty kilograms each. All the while Shepard became acutely aware of just how fixated on the black one Tali was. She refused to leave it, as if the thing would get up and walk away if she was not looking.
Once in the ore elevator with the dollies, Tali began to fidget. "Commander," she ventured, sheepishly. "You said you wanted to get a look at these?" she asked.
"Yes, would that be alright? I mean strictly speaking I suppose the Geth can be considered Quarian technological property-"
"They would kill you if you said that to them," Tali replied. "But yes, it's more than alright. That's kind of what I wanted to talk about. You are investigating them because of Eden Prime. I am on my pilgrimage and well… I want to come with you."
Shepard's eyebrows rose under her helmet. "Pilgrimage?" she asked.
"Well…" she twisted her fingers together, "When a Quarian reaches a certain age, we leave the Migrant Fleet to experience life outside. We return once we have something to present to the captain of a ship, in order to join its crew. That can be money, resources, contacts, or a combination of things, basically something of value," Tali explained. "I wish to study the Geth."
Shepard hummed; well this was certainly a tempting offer. Tali was clearly very smart and resourceful. As far as civilians went, she did not panic in a firefight, and to have an expert aboard -even just a budding one- would be useful, not to mention easy to explain to the admiral.
Tali was wringing her fingers again. "Before today I've never seen a platform like this black one," she motioned to the frame as she spoke, "They have changed."
"What of your pilgrimage?" Shepard asked. She chose temporarily to ignore the topic of how the geth changed, but hearing Tali say it, was proof enough.
"It is quite… how to say, open. I am allowed to go wherever I please, as long as I bring back something of value. I assume you will continue to seek out the geth?"
Shepard nodded.
"Well then, there is no problem. I know about Eden Prime, what the geth did there… I am willing to share my knowledge. I can help you."
"Are you willing to sign a contract of secrecy? My ship is an Alliance frigate, a military ship, there are limits to what I can allow you to discuss with outside parties."
"Oh! Of course, Commander!" Tali perked up. "If that is the only concern you have, then let me put it to rest. I will not compromise your ship-home and I will sign an agreement to keep your secrets."
Shepard smiled. Something about the girl's earnestness and eagerness was contagious. "Well then, welcome to the Normandy, Tali."
"Thank you, Commander." Tali bowed her head a little.
"Guess we are no longer the only dextros aboard," Nihlus glanced at Garrus as he spoke.
"Matthews will be thrilled." Garrus replied.
"Matthews?" Tali asked.
"Our cook." Shepard replied. "Which… thank you, that reminded me… Tali you will have to tell me how we can get you comfortably situated." She did not say it, but Shepard knew about the special needs of the Quarians. Aside from being a dextro, she would need her food handled extra carefully as to prevent potentially deadly contamination.
They returned to the Normandy in a manner of a few hours. The Geth parts were stowed in the starboard cargo bay on deck four, with EDI warned to keep an eye on them, lest they come online before Tali had a chance to take everything apart. EDI assured her that they were so soundly damaged, the threat was insignificant, but she would take full precaution regardless.
After that, Shepard made sure her armor would recharge and that her oxygen supply would top up and helped Tali find a corner of the ship to call her own. Surprisingly that corner ended up the sublevel tucked away under engineering. Shepard had been mystified by the girl's choice, but then Tali explained that it was an issue of creature comforts. Tali only set one foot aboard the Normandy when she remarked how quiet the ship was, and then explained that Flotilla ships were always emitting some sort of noise, and it was usually a sign of trouble if the noise stopped. Thus she needed a space where the ship was slightly less quiet to be wholly comfortable. The sublevel under engineering was perfect. Tali did not even mind the fact that the engineers might need access down there to run routine diagnostics. She said privacy on the crowded Flotilla was a luxury, and she would not dream of getting in the way of standard maintenance.
After that, and with a new signed contract to forward, Shepard withdrew to the OD to work on her report. This was going to be a long and detailed one. The Alliance had a vested interest in this mining operation; she owed them assurances that the miners were not traumatized.
In the end, there were no lives lost, no injuries even. The miners themselves showed interest, coming to gawp at the "Eden Prime threat", though Shepard drew the line at pictures. Some wanted to take souvenir shots to show their relatives, Shepard had to forbid them.
The OD's door swished open and Shepard looked up from her terminal. Tali stepped in, fingers already wringing, "Commander. I have something for you. I was very curious and I went to look at the geth again, you said it would be alright-"
"Of course, Tali. They're yours to take apart." Shepard replied.
Tali approached her desk and pulled up her omni-tool. "I found something running very basic scans on the hardware. Something… strange."
"How so?" Shepard asked, she put her terminal into standby and turned to face the young quarian.
"The grey ones, two are basic multipurpose models, one is a command unit, we call them Primes. They are a bit of a later development, once the geth turned violent." Tali began. "However the black one… is not a geth."
Shepard froze.
Tali pulled up her scan schematics and projected them in front of her. "You see, all platforms have this," she motioned to the center of the big grey unit's chest, indicating a structure buried deep inside. Perforated or not, it looked like a large knot of components and wires right about where the heart ought to have been on a human. "This is the runtime core. The basic units have one hundred or so runtimes, giving them a rather limited processing capability, and thus limited intelligence. The Prime probably had around three hundred, which allowed it to speak a little." Tali then pressed a few buttons and projected the body of the black unit. Though headless, it was recognizable by its long arms.
Shepard could see the difference immediately. The black one had a strikingly different arrangement of components. Its internal power packs were outright huge in comparison to the other geth, which explained the shields. More obvious yet was that it had nothing that looked like the runtime core the other unit. "No computer. No runtimes."
"Yes. Whatever this thing is, it is not a geth. Well… it is geth-built, the chassis is essentially the same as the Prime. The materials, assembly, and some of the hardware are the same, but there are major hardware differences too."
Shepard hummed. "Could it be a remote controlled unit?" Shepard asked.
Tali shut off her omni-tool and shifted her weight, "Possibly, though I need to analyze the unique hardware in depth to confirm it. Why do you think that?" Tali wondered.
"It's the way it behaves. I've talked to it on Eden Prime, it is the same both times, same voice, same stuck-up way of talking, as if it is deigning itself to speak to lesser beings. Yet I blew its head off on Eden Prime. It also has delayed responses, perpetually two or three seconds slow. Then for all its shielding and firepower, it is inaccurate, and even there, delayed. It's like a puppet dancing on strings."
Tali hummed, "Well if you are correct and it is a remote controlled unit..."
"The million credit question becomes who, or what, is the ghost in the machine?" Shepard wondered.
"Geth have no need to control their frames via remote, they download runtimes into the hardware… for this one to be remote controlled-" Tali trailed off. "I need to look into it."
"Take your time, Tali. No rush."
Tali nodded, but then her fingers were twitching again. "Commander, can I ask one more question? Two?"
"Of course. You just did, but I'll give you those as freebies," Shepard smiled.
Tali chuckled quietly. "Well you said you were on Eden Prime, now you said you faced the geth directly. Just… this is a beautiful ship, but… it has stealth capability, powerful weapons… What is the Normandy?"
"The Normandy is an Alliance frigate, brand new, state of the art." Shepard replied.
"Ah, and… then Nihlus and Garrus, you hiring me, why?" Tali went on.
"I am building a team of specialists of sorts. You can say I do odd jobs for Admiral Hackett of the Fifth Fleet. Garrus helped me after Eden Prime; he used to be C-sec. As for Nihlus… well, I should say Council Spectre Nihlus Kryik; he's the Spectre Liaison aboard, but really my mentor of sorts."
"You are a Spectre candidate?" Tali gasped.
"Indeed. Though come to think of it, I really ought to have told you that sooner. I'm sorry."
"No! No! It will not be a problem Commander!" Tali jumped in. "I am merely surprised... and maybe worried, I mean… can I help you after all?"
"You can, Tali. You already have." Shepard replied with a smile. That was a hundred percent truth too.
Tali looked up sharply. "Thank you, Commander."
"Just one last thing, Tali. Please drop this whole Commander thing, just Shepard is fine. I'm not exactly a stickler for military protocol. This is a small ship, mixed crew, and there are few of us. I firmly believe excessive protocol has no place here."
"As you wish… Shepard," Tali replied as if testing the sound of her name.
"I said it before, but welcome to the Normandy, Tali."
Author Notes: There's Tali intro. I got very little to say other than once again I tried to give Tali a little fair share of things "her own". My philosophy when writing characters is to find "their thing" and roll with it. Tali brings in that geth expertise, which will get even better in time.
General Notes:
The Black Unit – If you know your canon, when EDI got her mobile platform she said she needs to maintain proximity to the Normandy, a certain range, to operate the mobile platform properly. The "black geth" is what happens when that range is not maintained.
Chapter Notes:
Thanix metrics – This is the first of my "ponderings" on ship-to-ship combat in space, coining my rules of combat. The power metric refers to the quantity of mass of molten metal fired from the Thanix. So 100% would be the maximum output of a specific Thanix cannon. Constriction refers to how tight the electromagnetic field confines the beam, i.e. how narrow and thus dense it is. A tight, dense beam will have slightly more range, and puncture into a ship like a Full Metal Jacket round. A wider shot will "bloom" like a Hollow Point, doing pretty nasty damage without as much penetration. The narrow beam needs to be shot through something critical, like a power core, to destroy a ship in one shot. A wider beam would be better at gutting a ship's decks with a tracking shot. The Reapers displayed both behaviors in the cut-scenes when they fired their guns, on which the Thanix was based.
Helmet fire – A colloquial term for "task-saturation" leading to an utter loss of situational awareness. A very real risk for fighter pilots flying by instruments alone. They have many things to keep track of, while following precise procedure. When the sum of it all tops the pilot's ability to process they may become disoriented or confused, leading to potentially deadly mistakes.