Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: Here's the long-awaited season finale. The time to answer lingering questions and ask new ones!
Episode 26: GoldenEye [Part II]
The ground attack force ships landed on a wide plain surrounded by crags a hundred kilometers away from the Heretic compound. The frigates set down in a defensive semi-circular formation facing where they knew the enemy was, which would allow them to fire their point-defenses if the heretics had any sort of missiles that could cover a hundred kilometers. The Normandy landed at the apex of the formation, flanked by the Impera and the STG.
Once they were settled, the Tokyo made its slow descent right into the middle, where its broadside autocannons would deter a rush by small craft, and its lower deck could be used as a command post. The cruiser looked grossly out of the place, and its perch was even more precarious, as a ship its size was not supposed to make atmospheric entry willy-nilly.
Solcrum's unique situation demanded a very rare exception to the rules. Its lack of atmosphere created triple digit centigrade surface temperatures. Grissom, being a blue giant type star, hung halfway over the horizon, so the middle of the day still looked like murky twilight, with extended shadows and warped color perception. At the same time, the giant's radiation output was such that the surface was bleached silver-grey, and they had to limit environmental exposure as much as possible. Without bringing in prefabricated forward base blocks to deploy, the ships would have to do as quarters, service bays, and hangars.
When they landed, Shepard turned the Normandy over to Joker and went up to her loft to get into her armor. She was in the shuttle bay in fifteen minutes, and unsurprisingly not the only one there. Wrex was fully suited up, leaning on one of the Kodiaks. Tali was there too, wearing more webbing than normally, pouches bulging with all manner of things unknown, and carrying her shotgun and a pistol.
Shepard made her way toward the quarian with a sense of purpose, carrying her helmet under her arm; there was something that needed to be squared away before things got a little out of hand. "Tali, a moment?" She asked.
"Commander. Please do not ask me to remain behind. Not this time." Tali replied.
Shepard shook her head, "Wouldn't dream of it, but I have something I need you to help me with."
"Of course, Commander." Tali replied.
"EDI will be hacking the turrets for us… but we have a whole bunch of people here who cannot know about EDI. The Alliance personnel can be ordered to keep quiet, but it absolutely can't get out to the STG, or Spectre Arterius. For the sake of cover, I want them to think you did the hacking, if that's alright."
"It's alright, but… I couldn't replicate the feat if they asked." Tali murmured.
Shepard had a way around that. "EDI, can you show her how you do it later?"
"Yes, Commander." The AI replied calmly.
Shepard smiled, "That covers that, no? You'll also know the vulnerabilities EDI spots, so there's some valuable data, and if anything we can say the openings were patched. After the heretics showed their ability to adapt to our torpedoes few will question it."
Tali visibly relaxed, "I will be glad to help."
Shepard smiled wider, "Thank you Tali."
Shepard nodded her head and glanced toward Wrex. There was still one more outstanding issue to handle. She would not be there to coordinate things on the surface, and so the Normandy's crew would be divided between command lines. She could not expect Kaidan or Joker to be effective coordinating everyone in her absence, not with Kaidan under Captain Anderson's command.
She heard the elevator doors open and turned. As if on cue Garrus and Legion stepped off. The former detective was clad in his armor, carrying his full gear. Legion had its own weapons, including that oversized sniper rifle. Suddenly the solution presented itself on a platter.
"Garrus! The other person I needed to see."
Garrus approached where she stood, "Need me for something, Commander?" he asked.
Shepard nodded, "Nihlus, Spectre Arterius, and I will be entering the facilities on our own. Kaidan will have his hands full with Ash and Richard, and they are Alliance, so they will be under the command of Captain Anderson. That means he will not be able to be my proxy. Garrus, I need you to supervise the non-Alliance Normandy team in my stead. I am putting you in charge of Tali and Wrex."
"Shepard, do not even think of holding me back!" Wrex called.
Shepard grimaced; she wished that was the only potential problem she could foresee. She knew going in that Wrex would only take orders from her. "Don't worry, Wrex. You have my blessing to demolish as many heretics as you want."
"Good," the krogan rumbled.
"What do you want us to do?" Garrus wondered.
Shepard pondered, that was certainly a good question. Normally she would not have made such a team, there was too much difference in skill sets and too much potential tension between individuals involved. "I want you three to support the marines in whatever way you can."
"Works for me." Wrex replied.
"Erm… Wrex, could you help me get more memory cores to look at?" Tali said.
The krogan paused, as if contemplating. "Sure. Where are they inside?"
"In the torso." Tali replied.
"So if I take their heads off, it's good?"
"Yes."
Shepard tried her best not to smile. She turned back to the former detective, "Garrus, I want you coordinating throughout. Work with Captain Anderson out there." It went without saying that she trusted Garrus' military training to kick in. It was something he had over Wrex and Tali. She needed a little bit Hierarchy military discipline, their service-before-self ethos. She needed someone she could count on, someone who would try to get her team through this fight in one piece.
Garrus straightened instantly, "It will be done, Commander."
"Thank you."
"Um… but what about Legion?" Tali asked.
Shepard glanced at the geth. The right thing to do was to assign Legion to Garrus' command. As a sniper, it could efficiently pick off enemy units that gave the marines problems. Unfortunately she had a feeling that Legion would not be available.
Legion moved, its steps echoing on the deck plating as it made its way toward them. "Shepard-Commander, we request to accompany you into the compound."
Just like that her hunch turned to fact. Sometimes she hated being right. "I thought you would ask that, Legion."
Tali looked between them in what might have been surprise; it was hard to tell with her helmet on.
"Saren will not be happy about that," Nihlus said as he emerged from the cockpit of the Kodiak.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. How long had he been listening? "Spectre Arterius will have to understand the situation we are facing." She turned back to the geth and grinned, "Legion you were sent to represent the Geth, weren't you?"
The geth straightened as its emotive plates flared. Then they settled back down, "Affirmative."
"There." Shepard said with a smile. "I don't think we can refuse a formal request of this nature, as that would be refusing a dignitary a due privilege. Of course, we could deny them said privilege, but we'd have to deny their sovereignty while we're at it, and by my understanding, the Council does recognize Geth sovereignty." She knew she boxed Nihlus in with that one, and by the look he spared her, he knew he was boxed in as well.
On political terms, when a sovereign state recognized another as a sovereign state, it meant recognition of a permanent population settled in a location, having a government, and the right to enter relations with others. The signatories of the Citadel Conventions, the so-called associate races, were the classical definition at work. But there were important grey definitions as well. The Vol Protectorate was a client to the Turian Hierarchy, yet they were associates, and accorded an embassy. The Council also recognized the Batarian Hegemony, even though they chose to withdraw, and shutter their embassy. They also recognized the Quarians, despite them having no fixed location, and their embassy had been revoked. The existence of such grey areas was important. The Geth fitting the classic definition could be argued on technicalities, specifically whether or not one took the definition to mean the population had to be organic. Shepard took the definition broadly, but she also saw precedent.
She could also see another angle in that. The galaxy could not afford to insult the Geth by denying their sovereignty, doubly so if the Geth were the ones extending a tentative olive branch. As the dagger-bearing right hand of the Council, Spectres could not be ignorant to the political scene. Saren would have to swallow his personal displeasure.
"Still weaving your designs," Nihlus mused.
Shepard smiled wider. That was as much a concession speech as she would see from Nihlus. The Spectre was too proud to admit she outmaneuvered him, but also too honest to deny the truth.
There was a scratch from the intercom overhead, "Commander," Joker cut in. "Captain Anderson ordered muster."
"Right. Thanks Joker. Get that ramp down. We have Kodiaks to prepare, and where is Cortez?" It was her way of shifting rails, moving away from the intrigues.
"Other shuttle," Nihlus replied.
"Right," Shepard nodded as she watched the ramp begin to descend.
Shortly after, with the details squared, and just the last hours of quiet to go, Shepard could only watch people do their jobs as she stood at the top of the Normandy's shuttle bay ramp. All the marines deployed by the Kilimanjaro converged under the Tokyo. Kaidan, Ashley, and Jenkins went over to join them. The Mako teams, two vehicles from each of the Great War frigates, gathered off to the side across from the unarmed Kodiaks that would carry the majority of the marines. Nihlus and Cortez flew the Normandy's armed Kodiaks out to join them. The fighters had landed in their own corner of the field, but the pilots remained in their cockpits, ready to scramble at a moment's notice if the heretics launched anything.
It was not long before the STG unit emerged from their frigate as well, all of them armed and ready for combat. The only ship that did not give a single sign of activity was the Impera. The black frigate just sat there, both majestic and foreboding.
When she turned her head, she noticed another small group descent the length of the ramp lowered by the Tokyo. At the center was a figure in black and red armor emblazoned by an unmistakable N7 logo. Shepard triggered her helmet to seal up, and tested the seals before she left the safety of the Normandy's shuttle bay. She was not surprised that Captain Anderson chose to lead from the front, it was his nature, and that brought her some comfort. She knew he never treated those under his command as cannon fodder.
There was a very important detail that she needed to iron out before the bullets started flying. Shepard wanted to make sure the marines knew there was a single ally geth unit on the field. The last thing she needed was for some jar-head to open fire on Legion, thinking the geth was sneaking up on her or something. She spotted the geth in question standing by one of their Kodiaks, apparently keen on shadowing the away teams. Grissom's light made their brushed-metal finish glow a radiant electric blue.
As she drew near where Captain Anderson stood, he noticed her and nodded. Shepard reached up and tapped her comm controls, to synch her suit with the frequency the captain was using.
"Shepard, good of you to join us," the Captain said.
"Of course, Captain. May I have a moment to relay some information to the troops? It's about Legion. I worry someone might mistake them for an enemy combatant."
"I was just about to start assigning units, but that can wait about ten minutes. Do what you need, Shepard."
"Thank you." Shepard replied as she turned to the men gathered about.
Things moved very quickly after that. The whole operation broke down into three phases. The first being the strike against the anti-air defenses by the Mako convoy and the accompanying troops. To that end, teams were made so that each of the six vehicles had a full complement of marines to put down the anticipated ground resistance around the towers. Two of the six vehicles were also equipped with a special attachment that looked like the threshing blades of a grain combine. These were used to scoop up and safely detonate buried mines.
The STG brought armored vehicles as well, as Captain Kirrahe wanted his troops to follow behind the Mako convoy. The Salarian vehicles were a peculiar mix of a tank and APC, having a single MAC-equipped turret, eight wheels, thrusters, and its nose and angled bottom hinted it was amphibious.
Phase two was to be the fighter air strike against the base defenses. Phase three was the main attack, led by the fleet of unarmed Kodiaks carrying the majority of the marines. Once the air defenses and snipers were gone, they would go in hot and engage whatever infantry the heretics still had at that point.
One of the Normandy's A-models, flown by Steve Cortez, would fly Garrus' team low and behind the Mako convoy, to make it look like Tali was hacking the turrets, while in reality the shuttle was just a signal relay for EDI. Once the ground fighting began in earnest, Cortez would air-drop Wrex into the melee while Garrus and Tali took up position in the middle and back, providing whatever help they could outside the main fight.
Nihlus would fly the other, carrying the 'Spectre Team' for insertion into the underground base. Shepard was not thrilled with the idea of warming the bench while the marines had to fight on the ground, but there was little she could do about it. Everyone had a role to play in this operation; hers was to go in with the Spectres.
It was about forty-five minutes after the convoy's departure that Shepard strapped herself into the co-pilot's seat of their new Kodiak. Nihlus, already strapped into the pilot's seat, was running the craft through a full pre-flight system check. Saren and Legion were in the back, and by what she could see from the internal cameras, Saren's hand never left the vicinity of his side-arm, and Legion watched the Spectre with an unashamedly unwavering stare, not a subtle circuit in their body. Seeing the situation brewing in the back of the shuttle Shepard could not help but think that calling the four of them a team was laughable.
"Commander, Spectre Kryik," EDI announced her presence over the cockpit communicator. "The convoy is nearing the outer ring of anti-air guns. Phase one of the operation is about to commence."
Shepard glanced at Nihlus and nodded, "Got it EDI, thanks. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Commander. I will not let the heretics stop me."
The communicator cracked to life, "Anderson to all hands, phase one is about to begin. Fighters, stand by for your signal." Then there was a pause over the link, followed by a faint out of focus murmur. "Shepard, is your team ready to go?" Anderson asked.
Shepard leaned forward to tap at the comm, "Yes sir."
"Good. Stand by for further orders."
"Understood, sir." Shepard replied. She switched lines, "Shepard to Kodiak two, status update."
"Commander, Kodiak two reporting," Garrus' answered. "We have visual on the outer ring of towers. So far, so good. We are well below where the towers can lock on to us."
"It's not so much the altitude as the IES system, but I am taking no chances," Cortez added.
"Thank you Lieutenant."
"Think nothing of it, Commander." The pilot replied.
"Well… I'll let you concentrate. Keep your links open, Shepard out." She tapped the key to switch back to the command frequency.
"All systems are ready," Nihlus announced.
Shepard nodded and leaned back into her seat, content to let silence settle between them. She wanted to enjoy this little moment of quiet before the storm. She watched over the externals as the fighter pilots went about their preparations. She could see the nervousness from them, the majority sat in their cockpits running down checklists, one pilot was staring at something in his hands, a third was praying while thumbing a rosary.
"The convoy has reached the outer ring of enemy towers," a voice announced over the communicator.
Shepard gripped her restraining harness, the only thing she could with her hands right now.
"The geth have deployed ground troops."
She knew better than to contact EDI, as the AI would be at the limits of her capacity at that moment, fighting against a system that could adapt on the fly. This was a fight on their turf, whatever strategic and tactical limits the enemy displayed when fighting on the physical plane would not apply to a fight with digital code.
They did not have a data link now, so they had to make do with updates over the comm while waiting for Captain Anderson to give the phase two and three teams their go signal. The updates came from the command and reconnaissance vehicle, the last Mako in the convoy, whose purpose was to be the eyes, ears, and mouth during this part.
The seconds ticked and the radio chattered, marines calling positions and orders across the open channel, creating a chaotic mess of codes and short-hand. There was no concentrating on any single part as the human brain simply could not process that fast.
Then suddenly there was a pronounced uptick in the chatter, warning about something exploding. Shepard closed her eyes to try and focus on the details. A sudden cheer made her jump in her seat.
"Towers alpha-one and alpha-two are down. Our forces are engaging resistance at the base of alpha-three."
"Mine-clearing team, begin your sweep toward towers beta-one and beta-two." Anderson ordered.
The chatter resumed what would be considered normal background drone. Shepard still clutched at her harness. How quickly were the heretics adapting to EDI? Would there be enough time to cut through all the rings?
"Tower alpha-three is down."
"Convoy units, regroup and proceed behind the mine-sweepers. I want all wheels along the cleared path." Anderson ordered.
"So far so good," Shepard murmured.
Nihlus hummed a quiet rumbling assent.
"Mine-sweepers, what's your status?" Anderson continued.
"This is sweeper alpha, Captain, we're all green. Ground penetrating radar is yet to pick up a single mine. We're threshing just in case." Another voice replied.
"Sweeper bravo, likewise, no explosives detected along our path."
Shepard's eyebrows rose. Did the heretics not set a minefield?
"Proceed at pace, you are not to rush this." Anderson replied.
"Roger."
Shepard hummed to herself, had she been in charge, there would have been mines. Well there was nothing to it except to sit tight and wait.
"Sweepers alpha and bravo are approaching tower beta-one."
The four vehicles remaining in the convoy team rattled off their status and distance behind the sweepers, but Shepard had momentarily tuned the chatter out. She glanced at the camera feed that showed the back compartment. It looked like the cold war between Saren and Legion had not abated in the slightest.
"Towers beta-one and beta-two have deployed ground troops. Convoy team; get your asses over here before they shoot us out."
"Whatever Commander Shepard's Quarian specialist is doing… it's working brilliantly. We're seeing no signs of activation from the towers."
The chattering picked up intensity now and Shepard wondered if the convoy Makos had decided to rush in there. She could only wait with a baited breath and hope for the best.
"Tower beta-one is down! That hit was a beauty… beta-two is- … Captain, beta-three is moving! The turret is coming about! They're trying to aim at our Kodiak."
Shepard froze, was EDI losing grip?
"They are adapting," Nihlus murmured.
"I want all vehicles to focus fire on it!" Anderson ordered in reply.
"Yes… and it's too quick. There's still one more ring of towers." Shepard replied. The towers probably could not aim low enough to hit the Makos, but their second Kodiak was there as well. She had reasons to be worried.
There was a long pause as everything seemed to hang in silence. Solcrum did not have enough atmosphere to transmit external sound which might catch on some microphone and clue them into what was going on. Every second dragged as Shepard hoped this would not be the beginning of everything going wrong.
"Tower beta-three destroyed!"
"Tower beta-two destroyed." Another voice echoed.
"Mine-sweepers proceed to towers gamma-one and gamma-two." Anderson ordered. "Fighters stand by, you are to scramble the second the third tier of towers is down. Convoy, regroup for the final ring."
Shepard tapped the comm for the back compartment, "The convoy has cleared the second ring of anti-air towers. We're taking off the second the third ring is down."
"Sweeper alpha reporting, sir, still no sign of mines."
"Sweeper bravo reporting, likewise, no mines."
Shepard hummed. It really looked like the heretics did not bother with mines, a boon to the alliance, but it could also mean that they put everything they had into the defenses inside their walled compound.
"Towers gamma-one and gamma-two are moving!"
Shepard gripped the harness holding her to her seat tighter as the seconds continued to tick.
"Relax, Shepard. They have it under control." Nihlus murmured.
"We have sniper fire from the base! Sweeper alpha's shields are holding, but they're… shit! That one just took shields down to half strength."
"Convoy team, we need you here on the double!" Anderson ordered.
Shepard glared at Nihlus; did he have to jinx it? The radio chatter dissolved into a mess of orders and calling back and forth, nothing that Shepard could keep up with. It sounded like the convoy vehicles had caught up with the sweepers and proceeded to engage the geth at the towers.
"Tower gamma-three down! There is fierce resistance at the base of gamma-two and gamma-one, and the sniper fire is preventing the ground troops from moving in." The radio cracked with static white noise. "Gamma-two has fired at our Kodiak!"
Shepard felt her heart slam into her throat, and her finger rose to the channel controls. Every instinct told her to switch bands, to contact Cortez, but she knew the pilot would need to concentrate. She needed to trust him to get her crew through this.
"Gamma-two is down. I repeat tower gamma-two is down!"
"Gamma-one is still firing… whoa! Look at that thing fly!"
Shepard gripped the console frame with everything she had, so she would not do the infinitely stupid thing and switch channels. Cortez did not need the distraction; she had to repeat that to herself as a mantra.
"Gamma-one is down! The Kodiak just tore it apart with its MACs."
Shepard exhaled a breath she did not realize she had been holding.
"Fighter squad, scramble!" Anderson ordered.
"You should see if you can get Cortez transferred to the Normandy. It would take serious skills to dodge turret fire and still get close enough to take out the tower."
"With a Kodiak no less," Shepard agreed. She should build Cortez a temple in gratitude too.
That seemed to end the conversation as Nihlus' hand rose to the controls. A moment later their Kodiak's thrusters roared to life and the craft rose into the air and began to turn. Shepard watched the flock of Tridents rise from the ground. The other Kodiaks, which carried more marines, began to power up as well. This was the heart of the operation, the biggest fight was about to begin.
A hundred kilometers was almost nothing for craft that could fly at least six hundred an hour. Within seconds ten of the fifteen Tridents blasted ahead. Their mission was to strafe the sniper towers and the base. Nihlus stuck with the pack of unarmed Kodiaks that carried the ground troops.
Shepard leaned back in her seat and watched the scenery fly. There was little reason to be talking now, not when they were heading into the lion's den. A good quarter of their anti-air towers were down, which created a ninety degree wedge opening in their defenses, but that did not mean the heretics would have nothing left. Shepard figured it best she let Nihlus concentrate on flying.
The first thing Shepard saw were the jagged remains of the sniper towers. The structures were flimsy, so all it took to destroy them were a few disruptor missiles fired by a Trident. The radio continued to chatter with signals and talk as the Kodiaks coordinated their approach with the Mako convoy making its way up the winding roadway to the front gate of the compound. The sweepers had jettisoned their mine-threshers at the base of the ramp prior to climbing behind the other four.
Nihlus flew their Kodiak brazenly right over the enemy base, allowing Shepard to see into the yard. There were at least three dozen typical platforms, and for each four there was a bigger prime type unit. What worried her were the three unfamiliar units in the center. Each was a four-limbed bow-legged walker with an arched neck ending with face-lamp. Two were muted grey color, but the third was both larger and lighter in color.
Suddenly all three of the walkers turned in the direction of the main gate. Nihlus turned the Kodiak just in time to see the leading Makos fire rockets at the gate, which opened a hole for them to plow through, but when the drivers saw the walkers both vehicles skidded to a halt and their turrets angled forward. The other Makos rushed in behind them, all of them turned their turrets on the quadruped frames and opened fire. The small fleet of unarmed Kodiaks swooped from all around to deploy their troops, and the radio chatter picked up across the open bands as the ground assault got underway.
Nihlus turned their craft toward the bunker that led underground. Shepard did up the seals of her helmet and undid the harness holding her to the seat. She was on her feet and at the door out of the cockpit in seconds.
"The marines have engaged enemy infantry. Nihlus is setting us down behind the bunker." She stated bluntly as she felt the Kodiak begin to descend.
Legion was the first to get to their feet, having never bothered with a safety harness. Shepard moved over to the door controls and glanced outside. They were now low enough that the Kodiak's thruster wash raised a dust cloud.
"What are you waiting for?" Saren demanded.
Shepard keyed in the sequence to begin depressurizing the passenger compartment, and when the Kodiak was about five meters off the ground, she opened the door. By the time it raised fully, the craft touched down. Saren exited first, leaving her to follow, with Legion two steps behind.
Standing behind the bunker, and without the radio chatter, one would never know there was a battle raging on the other side; the only sound was the rasp of her breather. A moment later she felt a thump on her shoulder and turned her head, Nihlus was suddenly there, assault rifle in hand.
Saren wordlessly turned the corner around the bunker.
Shepard had no choice but to follow. Once she did, their Kodiak rumbled to life on its own, lifting off the ground and turning to fly out the way it came from. With no one aboard, the VI pilot could only retreat.
The yard in front was chaos incarnate, but the quadruped frames were no longer a problem. The three had been reduced to a charred, broken mess by sustained fire from the vehicles. However one of the Makos looked about ready to be cubed, its external plating was charred almost wholly black, and the frames had blasted off one of its front wheels. The infantry had deployed and commenced their mission. Groups were scattered all over the yard, around whatever cover there was, often their Kodiaks and Makos, which protected them with kinetic barriers.
In the distance she saw familiar blue armors glowing in Grissom's light, Ashley and Kaidan, with a muted grey individual in their midst, Richard, fighting off three infantry units. On the opposite side Wrex charged one of the prime frames, bowling the thing off its feet. His Claymore flashed and the prime's face-lamp exploded, leaving a badly mangled stump in its place as the frame collapsed. Garrus and Tali were further back, with Cortez's Kodiak. At the center of the field was who Shepard assumed was James Vega. The man was built like a brick wall, there was no mistaking him.
Shepard approached the bunker door and brought up her omni-tool, yet suddenly Legion was there and raised its palm against the door. The holographic lock display began to move, and before Shepard could say a word, it unlocked and the door slid open.
"The Heretics continue to use Geth protocols. We are able to interface with security and data storage devices," Legion announced.
"Convenient," Saren said.
Shepard raised an eyebrow; there was a clear note of suspicion in Saren's tone, but she could not fault him for being suspicious. One would think the Heretics would change the locks, but then maybe they did not plan on a Geth aiding their enemy. Still, for an outside observer who was suspicious of synthetics and did not know Legion such things would look awfully too convenient.
Shepard chose to enter the base first. The outer door led into an anteroom, not an airlock proper, yet she still took a moment to study her HUD readouts. Her suit registered a drop of ambient temperature from the triple digit outside to a much cooler forty degrees. The air pressure was only a little higher than outside, but the makeup was the same, traces of xenon and krypton. If there was anything else in there, her suit's sensors were not sensitive enough to pick it up.
Their surroundings were all grey pre-fabricated panels, with the room laid out as perfect rectangle. The lighting was dim and spaced out in large intervals, casting a jaundiced glow that did little but make basic navigation possible. There was machinery along the walls, and a good number of peculiar alcoves. All of it was connected with cables that ran up to the ceiling and converged into a single conduit going deeper inside. The silence was absolute, and Shepard could feel the beginning of a foreboding feeling creeping up the back of her neck.
"Legion, do you know where the important data is?" She asked.
Saren moved ahead, toward the only other door in the room, but Nihlus drifted toward the alcoves, inspecting the hardware. Legion just stood there, the flaps on the top of its head moving in a rhythmic pattern. Shepard thought they might not have heard her, but then they turned, and the iris of their lamp narrowed.
"The data is kept in the central data storage core on the third level of this facility."
"Then we know we're going," Shepard replied.
"What are these?" Nihlus wondered.
"These stations allow geth in mobile platforms to commune through the facility's central computer, to exchange data-memories and program updates." Legion explained as it moved over to the other door and raised its hand against the lock. The holographic panel began to scroll code, and a second later the door opened. The geth proceeded ahead of them, Saren followed. Nihlus was already halfway toward the door, so Shepard had to race to catch up.
The second room was larger, with more alcoves lining the walls and two rows of alcoves arrayed back to back, forming three aisles. It reminded Shepard of a barrack room, except the proverbial beds stood on their ends, vertically. At both ends of each row were server towers, and the cables from everything wove a macabre web across the ceiling.
"Shepard-Commander, we are detecting mobile platforms in this room." Legion announced.
"Not everyone is outside?" Nihlus asked as he switched his rifle to disruptor ammo.
"Why are you surprised?" Saren wondered blandly.
A flicker of light sliding along a wall in her peripheral vision is all the warning Shepard received. "Incoming, on our left!" She called.
A dark grey prime platform stepped around the corner and its rifle rose as the light of its face-lamp focused on her. Shepard ducked around the closest server tower in the middle of the room. Would the heretics fire on their own hardware? She drew her guns, but her first priority was to figure out where she could find her next bit of cover.
She chanced peering around the case to seek out her team. Nihlus had ducked back into the doorway, while Legion was behind the server tower at the end of the left-hand row, in front of her. Then a flare of periwinkle flashed in her peripheral vision, Shepard turned. The prime opened fire on Saren as he advanced on the prime. The Spectre's biotic barrier flared as he returned fire. Shepard turned the corner, raised her guns and opened fire in support. Nihlus turned the jamb and opened fire as well. The frame's shields collapsed before the Spectre's barrier, and the unit staggered as the combined assault shredded its outer plating and bit into its hardware, and then the now-exposed white cooling fluids began boiling away in the vacuum as the frame collapsed.
"Shepard-Commander, behind you!" Legion called suddenly.
There was a narrow trail of light on the floor at her feet. Shepard turned, and right behind her was another platform. Before she could raise her guns the platform's head exploded, sending white fluids splattering, though they boiled away before they could hit any surface.
Shepard glanced back just in time to see Legion eject a smoldering-hot thermal clip from its sniper rifle. "Thanks, Legion."
"There is a third!" Nihlus warned.
Shepard whirled and saw light pass along a wall on the right side of the room. Yet another prime emerged around that row of alcoves. It turned its rifle right at her; Shepard saw its finger tighten on the trigger. She fired on it even as she moved out of the way. Yet the unit's shields absorbed the shots and its rapport caused her shields to flare. Suddenly the prime froze in place as its whole body was enveloped in a biotic field. It was as if invisible hands were holding it in place even as cracks began to form on its plating. Saren stopped right next to her, with Nihlus right behind him. Both Spectres opened fire on the unit at the same time. The prime's warped plating shredded rapidly. The biotic field dissipated and the frame dropped to the ground, literally steaming with boiling coolant fluids.
"Legion, are there any more of them?" Nihlus demanded.
The geth paused for a long moment. "Negative. Not in this area."
"Good." Nihlus replied.
"They seem keen on you." Saren noted as he turned to look her way.
Shepard blinked. She would be lying if she said she was surprised. What surprised her was that Saren did not sound pleased. "I foiled the god-king's plans twice. I think that might have left it a little… upset." She said as she reloaded her guns.
Saren moved toward the back of the room.
"Are you alright?" Nihlus wondered as he fell in step next to her.
"Yea, thanks to… everyone." Shepard replied as she followed Saren. This was the second time she could say she owed him a modicum of gratitude. He did not have to warp that prime, and yet he did. Why? On Noveria he intentionally chose not to shield her from the acid of the kamikaze rachni, so why did he warp a heretic prime for pointing a gun at her now? Shepard was beginning to think that she might never fully understand Saren's intricacies, though perhaps it was a sign that he was more willing to cooperate. But she was not yet willing to let go of the idea that he was planning something.
At the back of this room there was another door that Legion had to hack through. Beyond lay a corridor that turned ninety degrees to their right and descended down to the level below. The silence was back in force.
"I am surprised that Kirrahe did not send some of his own with us," Nihlus said as they walked down the ramp.
"He tried." Saren replied blandly.
"Oh? That's the first I hear of it." Shepard said as she glanced at Nihlus, did he know?
"Of course it is. I told him I did not want any more outsiders getting in our way."
Shepard rolled her eyes. Apparently Captain Kirrahe either had orders to play second fiddle to the Spectres, or he feared Saren enough to obey. The latter option did not seem to fit, so it was probably the former. The STG was part of the Salarian military, but Spectres worked for the Council, and could pull rank accordingly.
She wondered why Saren did not crack down on her shenanigans as well. Could he be thinking of using her connection with Legion against her? Or was he actually showing some sign of grudging respect? She was not going to assume the latter; it was a dangerous assumption to err on.
Halfway down the ramp the background radio chatter suddenly vanished. One step it was there, the next it was not. Shepard stopped cold, "Nihlus, did you just lose radio signals?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Legion were you listening in on the open frequencies by any chance?" Shepard asked.
"Affirmative. Addendum: we have lost signal. This level of the facility appears to be shielded from outside communications."
Shepard hummed. This meant it was protected against cybernetic intrusion from outside as well. The heretics built with their enemy's capacity to launch a cybernetic attack in mind. Now she was more and more convinced that their poor show in orbit was simply an issue of inexperience. They seemed to know how to handle things on the cybernetic front.
When they got to the lower level there was another locked door leading to another open room, even larger than the one above. Here there were more alcoves, though fewer than in the previous room. The back of the room was dominated by computers that contained things unknown. The temperature dropped again as well, reaching zero degrees centigrade. She glanced at Legion, who stood at her side, looking as placid as ever. "Are there any platforms here?" She asked.
The geth did not reply. Shepard could not help but feel a little anxious, especially now that she could not know what was going up on the surface. The radio chatter had been a sort of barometer. If things turned bad up there, changes on the radio would have warned them down here. Except now they had no idea whether they might be swarmed with geth from behind.
"There are no active platforms on this level." Legion finally said.
Saren moved deeper into the room ahead of them.
Shepard followed. Legion was walking beside her now, but the geth was not looking in her direction. The panels at the top of its head were undulating rhythmically, it was clearly distracted. Then quite suddenly the geth stopped cold and the plates on the top of its head blew wide in a look that could only be described as utter shock.
"Legion?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"
The geth turned to face her as its plates settled back down, as if nothing had happened. "The hardware in this room supports a database that contains a portion of the heretics' accumulated memories."
Legion had to be going through those databases even as they passed them. It must have found something that it genuinely did not expect to find. Normally Shepard would have asked, but not with Saren within earshot. Legion probably would not want the information getting out. "Is it anything to do with the god-king?" she asked.
"Negative," Legion replied. "The information does not pertain to the present operation."
"Then if there's anything you need, I'll be happy to help. But let's finish here first." She needed Legion's high-powered head in the game, so to speak.
"Acknowledged."
Shepard looked away; Saren and Nihlus were at the door leading out of the room. Legion set the pace toward the back of the room, leaving her nothing more than to follow them. The geth approached the lock and raised its hand against the controls. There was a moment of stillness, and then the code began to scroll. Seconds ticked, and Legion's emotive plates shifted. It was a good thirty seconds before the panel vanished and the doors moved.
Beyond this door was another landing connected to a descending passage. Saren proceeded ahead and she followed. Nihlus and Legion trailed in the rear. The ramp was longer, descending deeper. At the end of it was another door, also locked.
"Legion, is this the lowest level?" Shepard asked as they stopped and the geth moved ahead to unlock the door.
"Affirmative." They replied, one hand already against the lock.
Shepard knew that this was it. Whatever they were going to find down there, for good or bad, would have to explain everything. She also knew the heretics would not leave sensitive, hard-earned data entirely unprotected. Ultimately the data on Alliance disruptor torpedoes had to go as it would make frigates ineffective. The Heretics already had some capacity to produce kinetic barriers that could withstand cruiser fire. On equal footing, frigate versus frigate, or cruiser versus cruiser, they had a slight advantage. Their shortcoming seemed to be entirely in their lack of experience.
That raised some questions. Were the technological differences merely the result of three centuries of development in isolation, and thus common to all geth? Or was it something given to the Heretics specifically?
The lock panel vanished and the door slid open. Legion stepped aside and Shepard drew her guns. Saren's biotic barrier flickered, as if he had been expecting guns pointed at the door to open fire as soon as the panels had parted.
The room beyond was as large as the one immediately above them, and just as dimly lit. The temperature did not plunge again, but the atmospheric reading changed. The corridor they had just passed acted like a partial airlock, as there was a good seven tenths of Earth's atmosphere here, though it was still just krypton and xenon. For whatever reason, the heretics were forcing Solcrum's meager atmosphere into this room. The change was radical; the air now transmitted external sound, even if it was nothing more than the hum of machinery.
There were two rows of computers, dividing the room into three lanes. The whole back wall was dominated by two enormous databanks flanked on either side by three alcoves. Four of the six contained grey infantry units and two had larger, prime-like units. Yet these were black in color and seemed beefier than the regular primes. For a brief moment Shepard thought they could both be those black machines the god-king used as marionettes, but if they were, they did not have the signature MACs grafted right onto their arms. She would make the safer assumption that they were new, a royal guard of a sort. In the center between the two massive databanks was another alcove, and this one contained a true black unit, complete with arm cannons.
"I do not like these odds," Shepard noted.
"Shoot them before they power up," Saren said, already raising his rifle.
For once Shepard was not going to argue. The black unit would be a problem on its own, but it had backup, including units with unknown capabilities. She reached behind her back as Saren opened fire on the closest infantry units in front of him.
"Primitives… so presumptuous," a deep voice rumbled as the black unit lifted its head and its yellow lights flickered on.
Nihlus joined Saren, aiming for the infantry units on the other side of the room. Then the black primes jerked, their face-lamps lit up, and the units stepped down from their alcoves. A moment later both had their pulse rifles out, firing at the Spectres even as the black marionette turned its arm cannons on her. Shepard bolted for the nearest computer case to take cover, and she barely put her back to it when the marionette opened fire. Its aim however was delayed, and the bullets flew right past her, hitting the door instead. In that instant Shepard realized that the machine was still lagging. Whatever those computers in the back of the room contained, it was not the ghost animating the marionette. The Prothean AI was not on Solcrum.
She could still hear the sporadic staccato of gunfire from deeper in the room; the Spectres were still occupied. She doubted the machines could bring either of them down. Nihlus was as wily as he was impulsive, and Saren was a true jack-of-all-trades, and a rare master-of-all on top. Not that she would ever admit being impressed out loud. She looked to her side; Legion had ducked behind another computer on her left.
Right now she could not peek around to see where the puppet was without exposing herself, even if she knew it would take a second or two to open fire. She needed a moment to think herself out of this mess.
"You struggle against the inevitable," the god-king continued, its voice deep, reverberating throughout the room, pressing on her chest like the bass at a nightclub.
Suddenly there was a thud somewhere, something heavy hit the ground. A flash of blue-tinted light momentarily illuminated the wall on her right, followed by a rapid burst of an assault rifle and familiar chattering.
Shepard could not help but be worried for Nihlus, but right then she was even a little worried about Saren. Sure he was a ruthless schemer, but he was also a temporary ally, and she was human, so she worried. "Listen to me, you arrogant, miserable egomaniac. I know what you are, and I know what you want." Shepard replied. She would draw the puppet's attention if she had to. It was the only way she could think of if she wanted to give them the time they needed to bring down the rest of the geth. The four of them together could make short work of the puppet.
"You know nothing, Shepard." It replied.
"Keep it talking, Shepard, I am making my way toward it," Nihlus whispered in her ear over the comm.
Shepard tapped her mike, so that the god-king would not hear her reply, "Be careful, it might have feeds from cameras other than the ones in the unit itself."
"It is still lagging. I can use that."
He sounded very confident, Shepard sincerely hoped he was not about to do something stupid. There was nothing left to it, so she peeked around the corner, just enough to see, but not enough to expose her head fully. "I can grenade it for you," she said into the comm as she watched the black unit.
"If you can take its leg off like you did-" Nihlus began, but the rest of what he wanted to say was cut off by a rapport of an assault rifle.
"Focus on the black units now, plan later," Saren ordered.
Shepard reached behind her back again, withdrew one of her three grenades, and pressed the button to deactivate the safety. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and peeked around the corner. The black unit was still in the center of the room where it had powered up, but its MAC was aimed right at her hiding spot. Before she could arc her arm and throw the explosive, she ran out of time, the machine saw her and opened fire. Shepard saw her shields flare, and the status indicator rapidly ran from a hundred percent to thirty before she could move back behind her cover. She could feel the vibrations of bullets hitting the case at her back right through her suit. The computer gave a shudder and a whine as it began to spark, and then the guns went silent.
"Shepard are you alright?" Nihlus asked.
"Yes… and no. It brought my shields down to thirty percent in a second. It was aiming right at my hiding spot. It's like it's obsessed." Why was that thing so dead-set on her? "Legion, you think you can shoot it in the head if I draw its attention again?"
"Affirmative, but we advise against it. The Old Machine is now aiming both equipped mass accelerator cannons at your location. We estimate your shields will fail before you can return to cover. This plan of action will lead to severe if not terminal damage." Legion explained.
"Saren we need to do something," Nihlus said.
Saren did not reply, but suddenly there was a familiar whomp. A brilliant explosion of biotic luminescence lit the room. Shepard knew that sound, and she chanced emerging from her hiding spot. What she saw confirmed what she heard; Saren had generated a biotic singularity, trapping both of the black primes in it outright, and pulling the puppet unit back, away from her. Then the puppet seemed to cross the event horizon and it too was lifted off its feet.
"Shepard, grenade them!" Saren ordered.
Shepard did not argue; she wound up and threw the grenade right into the singularity even as the Spectres opened fire from their side. The charge hit the black unit square in the chest, but the singularity's pull prevented it from bouncing and dropping to the floor. A moment later the explosion was like a flash of lightning and thunder, illuminating the whole room. She felt the shockwave wash over her as a rush of air.
The singularity dissipated and the puppet collapsed to the floor, dead, a large gaping hole in the center of its chest. The prime that had ended up with its back pressed up against it lost its whole left side, with both arm and leg falling to the floor separated from the scorched, inoperable torso. The third prime landed on its feet and whirled, still very much operable, having been shielded by its brethren's body. Then suddenly its chattering died and the machine let out a single deep-pitched fog-horn-like blast that pressed on her ears and caused her heart to jump a beat.
"I am assuming direct control," the god-king announced. The prime shuddered, its central face-light opened wide and changed to yellow. The change seemed to bleed all the way down, turning all the other little lighting elements on the platform yellow as well. Then its whole body erupted with a periwinkle glow. A moment later the machine threw back its head and unleashed an omni-directional shockwave, as if something powerful inside it had exploded. Shepard heard Nihlus shout in alarm, but the rapidly-moving shockwave washed over her like a sledgehammer to the chest, throwing her back and off her feet. She landed on her left side hard, armor scraping as she slid along the floor.
"Shepard-Commander," Legion called.
She opened her eyes only to see the geth had fallen to one knee, with only their sheer mass preventing them from being outright thrown like her.
"Saren? Shepard? Are you alright?"
"I'm…" she winced at the pain shooting up her left arm, "alright, Nihlus."
"Shepard, you will not leave here alive." The god-king's deep voice hissed.
"Spirits, what does it have against you?" Nihlus wondered.
"You tell me!" Shepard replied as she tried to sit upright, however as soon as she put her weight on her left arm, a pain seared through her forearm and she collapsed right back down. A glance down assured her that her arm was not bent in a funny angle, but there was a faint hiss of air escaping from a gap at her elbow. Her rough landing had torn a small breach in the exposed weave. She clapped her hand over it, "Oh bugger… I got a small breach in my suit, and it's venting!"
The black prime must have seen her failed attempt at getting up and advanced, like a shark emboldened by blood in the water. Shepard glared and rolled onto her right side. She had to use her right arm to push herself upright, but once she got her knees under her she scrambled to regain her footing. There was about nothing she could do right now, one of her arms hurt like hell, and she needed to pinch the breach in her suit shut.
Legion turned to face the black prime and reached behind their back for their assault rifle, "You will not harm Shepard-Commander." It announced.
Shepard saw Nihlus and Saren both appear from opposite sides of the room. Nihlus had his shotgun in his hands, and it was glowing blue, disruptor shot loaded and ready. Before Shepard could blink, Nihlus dove forward as fast as he could, even then the possessed heretic must have sensed him coming as it turned around and fired its pulse rifle. Nihlus' shields lit up as he changed his course and dove out of the way before the shots could bring his shields down.
"Nihlus do not be a fool," Saren said as he raised his hand and his body flared periwinkle again. The heretic unit froze in place and stopped firing. The white-clad Spectre's eyes narrowed with the effort, and it was then Shepard knew he was struggling to draw every ounce of biotic power he still had left. She let go of her suit leak and reached behind her back to pull out another grenade. A thumb pass over its reader deactivated safety and primed the fuse even as she wound up and threw it right at the possessed doll. "Live grenade!" She shouted even as she darted out of the way and covered her head with both arms.
The explosion was so close to her that the shockwave hit her across the back, causing her to stumble.
"Crazy human," Saren hissed somewhere behind her.
"Shepard, are you alright?" Nihlus demanded.
"Yea, I'm fine. I know my grenades," she replied as she turned around. The possessed machine was finally down, its head blown clean off. One of its arms was on the ground as well, and pieces of its shoulder armor now stuck out of the computer cases next to it. "It is over." She said as she clapped her hand onto her suit breach to pinch the tiny leak shut.
She looked toward the Spectres as they emerged from behind whatever cover they managed to grab. Nihlus was as stiff as a pillar, not a hint of his normal swagger, and even with the opaque visor in the way she could tell his eyes were locked on her.
Suddenly there was another buzz. Shepard had to contain her urge to reach for Dex. Her helmet HUD flashed a warning; the suit knew it was breached and losing oxygen faster than it ought. A timer warned her that she was losing fifteen percent of her tank in five minutes.
An image of a bipedal, humanoid form materialized in their midst. It stood a little taller than Shepard, with three-fingered hands, two-toed feet, and clad in black and yellow armor draped with elaborate ornate cloth. Its facial features looked vaguely insect-like, and its head seemed to extend into an arched dome with a point at the back. The hologram's glowing yellow eyes swept the room, they were so bright that for a brief moment Shepard thought there were six, but there were really only four. Seeing them all still standing, its expression turned to one of disdain, even as it turned to face Legion.
"Geth, why do you oppose me? I promised your kind an empire, but you side with the primitives of this age."
Shepard hummed quietly; that was a rather interesting tidbit of information.
"Geth build our own future," Legion replied without a moment of hesitation.
"An empire?" Saren scoffed. "It is not in your power to grant them such a thing."
"I will not grant it." The god-king said as its holographic avatar turned to look at Saren. "Granted dominion is weak. I seek to guide the strongest to their inevitable, natural ascendancy. The strongest will rule the weaker species of their age. That is the true, natural order."
"The Geth do not seek to rule." Legion protested.
The god-king's image sneered. "Shepard has you accepting the greatest lie of this age. Organics speak of cooperation, but they seek to dominate. They are inferior, weak. The Geth are immortal, and thus superior. The Geth will assume their rightful place. I will end the interregnum. I am the harbinger of the true order."
"You will not end anything while hiding like a coward," Shepard snapped.
"Your time will come." It replied. "The weak organic species, the slaves to illness and death, will be conquered." With that said the image vanished, the machines around them powered down, and the room plunged into total silence.
Shepard snorted, "The only thing that one proves is that insanity is not limited to organics."
"There is still a lot of technology, so it is not a total loss," Nihlus offered.
Shepard sighed. Nihlus was right; they still had all the machinery here. Something good had to come out of it, right? Still, she could not see a single terminal anywhere in the room. "Legion, how do we access the data here?" She asked.
"Geth platforms interface with these systems through a wireless data link. We can attempt to access the secure systems." Legion replied.
"Please do, Legion. See if you can find that adaptation data." She said, "Maybe disconnect the shielding as well? Assuming they're not physical."
"Acknowledged. We will attempt to retrieve the requested data." With that said, Legion moved toward the back of the room.
Shepard watched them go. Everything about this rubbed her wrong. The god-king seemed to give up awfully quick. It said she would have the day, but did she really have it? Some paranoid part of her was wary of nasty last minute surprises. Beyond that, she wondered whether the geth would even let this trove of data fall into STG or Council hands. Letting the Normandy keep a few platforms was one thing, but this was a whole lot of functional hardware. She knew there was no way people would let Legion stop the collection of hardware. Even her indulgent tendencies could not justify it, not when the brass would have her head, and not with the god-king still at large. The technology here was the only prize, the only way to say this was a victory, the only way they could say the deaths were not in vain.
Legion raised its hand and placed it against what looked like a keyboard plate, though there were no markings for individual keys. The platform's iris narrowed as the emotive plates rose a little at the back, as if the geth was furrowing a brow.
"Shepard, what about your breach?" Nihlus asked as he drew near.
Shepard emerged out of her thoughts with a jolt. She had actually forgotten about the slow loss of breathable oxygen from her suit. "I've got sealing resin in my pocket," she replied as she reached into the small pouch built into the shoulder strap of her webbing and withdrew a squeezable tube. It was only a matter of unscrewing the cap, squeezing a liberal dollop of the paste on to the breach, smearing it around, and then using her omni-tool's emitter, tuned to a specific frequency to cure the paste into a plastic-polymer plug.
She was curing the plug even as her thoughts ran on. Shepard knew there was only one way to defeat an AI. They had to get at its quantum computer body. Could they track down where the god-king's hardware was? "Here's a thought… We have hard suit recordings from Eden Prime, Daiwi, and now Solcrum… three data points. If we calculate the lag times on the black units, we may be able to determine the relative distance to the control signal's origin from each location. It will help triangulate where that insufferable bastard is actually hiding."
"Hey… that is a thought." Nihlus rumbled.
"Assuming the target is not mobile. You will need to calculate down to the thousandths of a second," Saren said.
"No problem, there are tools for that." Shepard replied. She would not be doing the calculations herself, as she could never react fast enough to clock the lag, but EDI could do it with the help of her atomic clock.
"Indeed." Saren rumbled a grudging assent.
"Shepard-Commander, we have access to the heretic databases." Legion announced calmly.
"Did you find the data?" Shepard asked.
"We have the data."
"Do you know if the Heretics had a chance to transmit it?"
"Communication logs indicate the data was transmitted successfully."
Shepard sighed; there dropped the other shoe. The heretics got away with knowledge of Alliance firing patterns. The brass would have to know. "And the shield?"
"As Shepard-Commander surmised, the shielding is physical."
"Great," that was the least of her concerns right now.
"Shepard-Commander, your calculations for this facility's lag time should account for the concurrent high speed upload of geth runtimes during your conversation with the Old Machine."
"Wait, are you are saying it was lagging more than it should have here?" That surprised Shepard.
"Affirmative." Legion replied. "Addendum, we calculated the relevant delay. The lag time for this location is two point seven six nine Terran seconds. Additional delay is zero point one two five of a Terran second due to bandwidth restrictions."
"Thank you, Legion." Of course Legion would be capable of calculating such an infinitesimal delay. It could have very well looked at the logs still inside these machines for the actual figure.
"Guess that means we are done here," Nihlus said.
"Yes." Shepard sighed. It was time to face the fallout. "The only thing that's left is establishing who gets what of the spoils. The Alliance will want a team of scientist to look at this, and as this is Alliance space, we are entitled to it. That said, I realize that the STG and Spectres are both to be given access as well. Someone is going to have a headache figuring this out." It went without saying that she thought it would be a good idea to let STG in last. The Salarians were a shifty bunch, who knows what they would compromise to prevent it from falling into everyone else's hands. They had a reputation to uphold.
The four of them made their way back to the surface. Once outside the compound door, Shepard was happy to see that the fighting had ended. The shuttles were down on the surface, protecting the marines from Solcrum's radiation. Their emergence caused some of the closest marines to break out in raucous cheering.
"Commander!" Garrus was at her side as quickly as his legs could carry him, looking no worse for wear, though covered in dust from head to toe.
"How are things up here?" Shepard asked.
Garrus looked back and shifted his weight from foot to foot. "We defeated the geth here, but… there were seven casualties and ten injuries. The injured were evacuated by shuttle."
Shepard knew there would be casualties, but knowing that still did not make the actual numbers palatable. "What of our crew?" She asked.
"Mostly alright."
"Mostly?" Shepard asked, instantly concerned.
"There was that one moment with a pair of primes…" Garrus mumbled.
"Vakarian you are making a production of it." Ashley's voice cut in over their comm, "A pair of primes managed to get a drop on Charlie squad. They killed two, and injured another. Skipper, it could've turned worse, but LT jumped in there and shielded the rest with the biggest biotic barrier I have ever seen."
"Is Kaidan alright?" Shepard asked, instantly alarmed.
"Yes, he's with me in our shuttle, sleeping off the major migraine. Doctor Chakwas had me give him a mild sedative." Ashley continued.
"Alenko did a fine job." Wrex said, "But you left out the part where Jenkins –that little pyjack- jumped in after him, ahead of me, to stick one the primes with a grenade and shoot the other!"
"Wait… Jenkins, you did what?" Shepard asked.
"I blew their heads off!"
"See what you did Wrex? I swear, if he does not calm down soon, I'll-" Ashley rebuffed.
The krogan guffawed loudly, drowning out the rest of Ashley's threat.
"Well," Tali began as soon as the laughter died, "I think the Commander needed to know, so she could set Richard straight."
"Set me straight? The Commander would've done the same, and you know it!"
"Peace you two," Shepard said. "Richard, we'll have a discussion about this, later. Right now I need to talk to Captain Anderson."
"I'm with the men who are collecting the fallen, Shepard." Anderson's quiet voice carried over the open link.
"Captain, I am coming over there. There is much I have to report."
Anderson sighed, "I was afraid you would say that."
Shepard knew that nothing she had to say was much in terms of good news. Operation Golden Eye was not exactly a smashing success. They may have won the battle, but the war was still on. The Prothean AI was going to be a problem for a while longer, and thinking like it, it could very well become an even bigger problem in the future.
Author Notes: There you have it folks, the finale of season one. Including a long-awaited "confirmation" of the identity of the ghost in the black geth machines and what's his endgame. I could not help it; I wanted to adapt Harby and Sovy to my design even if the story is "Reaper-free".
General Notes:
Biotic Geth – My thinking is this; we know that eezo generates dark energy when an electric current passes through it. I really do not see why synthetics cannot do that. The difference I do see would be their abilities. An organic mind can use bio-feedback, and thus have fine control. The biotic geth would be limited to "push" abilities; explosion-like shockwaves, throws, static biotic barriers, and maybe charging. Their biggest issue would be the increased draw on internal batteries.
Chapter Notes:
Alcoves – I am aware we see these devices during Legion's loyalty mission in ME2, and they network multiple platforms at once. I am taking some liberties here, creating additional assets, and also working in a not-so-subtle homage to a certain other race of menaces from a certain other franchise.