"Shepard. Our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins." EDI explained, "There is considerable geth activity, and an environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields."
"Why can't we go anywhere fun?" Garrus mused as they left the shuttle.
"Come on, let's find Tali." Kacey said, "The sooner, the better."
Kacey led the pair down a metal path. The moment she stepped into the sunlight, her shields started to take damage and the irritating sound of beeping came from her armour.
"I'm having serious issues with my shields." Garrus mused.
"Come on." Kacey said as she ran down the ramp and back into the shade. Her shields then regenerated as she entered the shade.
Once Garrus and Grunt caught up with her, Kacey entered the nearby building. She knew that Tali wasn't going to be that easy to find, but as she opened the door, she wished Tali was easy to find. Several dead quarians littered the floor as the nearby computer repeated the same message over and over.
"Emergency log entry: The geth are here. I've stayed to buy the others time. Anyone who gets this, find Tali'Zorah. She and the data are all that matters. Keelah se'lai."
It wasn't a reassuring sight; if the geth were indeed here, it was going to be a tricky situation to work with. The main issue with the geth was variety of them; the large ones, the invisible ones, and the giant artillery ones that always annoyed Kacey. Difference being that they had a tank back then. Kacey opened up the gate and began to proceed through the gate, assault rifle raised.
"Incoming dropship!" Garrus shouted.
The rumbling sound of a geth dropship flew overhead. Kacey ran into cover as several geth troopers landed into the area. Switching over to disruptor ammo, Kacey opened fire on the geth as the geth moved into a defensive position. Garrus moved into a defensive position and used his sniper rifle to pull off multiple headshots on the geth while Grunt rammed right through their defensive positions. It was good thing that Kacey had brought Grunt along; it was good to have a krogan on hand for fighting the geth.
It was a precarious situation; the geth were relentless and their guns had a much faster rate of fire than theirs did. It had taken far too long to wipe them out and ensure that they were completely deactivated. Kacey was relieved that most of the area was in the shade, as she ploughed through the geth forces. She narrowly avoided the rockets from the incoming geth rocket troopers. She rolled forward to avoid one of the rockets then shot her attacker, killing it.
Once all the geth in the area were dead, Kacey, Garrus and Grunt continued to push on through. As they moved into a more narrow and close quartered area, geth infiltrator units began to flood the area. Kacey switched over to her shotgun, hoping the wide spread of its shots would help flush the enemies out of their cloaked appearance. As they blasted their way through the last of the geth (with Grunt having a bit too much fun), Kacey could hear the sound of a radio from one of the many dead quarians littered around the area.
"Break-Break-Break. OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, do you copy? The geth sent a dropship towards OP-2. Tali'Zorah's secure, but we need back up! OP-1 This is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, come in, over!"
Kacey picked up the radio, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Can we provide assistance?"
"Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta." Kal'Reegar replied as Kacey did as the quarian asked, "We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us. They got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit the data through the solar radiation."
"What's the status of your team?" Kacey asked, "How many of you are left?"
"We were a small squad. Dozen marines, plus the science team. We're down to half-strength now. Made the synthetic bastards pay for it though."
"Any idea where the geth came from?"
"One of their patrol ships found us." Kal'Reegar explained, "Dropships started raining geth down on our heads before we could get off-world. System's under geth control. We knew they made planetary sweeps periodically. We'd hoped going low emissions would hide us."
"Are there any more on the way?"
"I don't think so. Their patrol ship hasn't lifted off again and the radiation blocks all off-world communication."
"How are you holding up? We can be there in a few minutes." Kacey said.
"Take it slow and careful." Kal'Reegar instructed, "Direct sunlight fries your shields all to hell. We're bunkered down at a base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, the doubled back to hold the chokepoint. Getting Tali out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off you."
"Are you absolutely sure the geth haven't reached Tali yet?" Kacey asked.
"Affirmative. Left my best men with her. When you get here, you can talk to her on the comm. Every marine on this rock is sworn to protect Tali'Zorah. Long as one of us is still drawing air, she'll be safe."
"What were they doing there, anyway?" Kaidan asked, "What was so important about that data?"
"Dunno. Something about the sun on Haestrom. That's all I know." Kacey replied.
"Hold position." Kacey ordered, "We'll hit their back ranks."
"Wait! Watch your ass! We've got a dropship coming in!"
The dropship in question swerved in and fired several missiles at the quarians fighting below near a door. The missiles killed the quarians outright and the vibration from the blast dropped a large pillar in front of the door, blocking the trio's path.
"Crap. Doorway's blocked." Kal'Reegar said, "Grab the demo charges in the buildings nearby! Use them to clear a path! They're coming in through the side! I've got to fall back!"
As Kacey expected, the geth flooded the area to stop them in their tracks. Unfortunately, that tactic didn't work on Grunt, who stormed through the geth at such a pace that Kacey was struggling to keep both an eye on the krogan and on the geth. Thankfully, Garrus was doing a good enough job at cover the pair at range. Kacey knew that the turian favoured the sniper rifle above all other weapons, mostly due to his exceptional skill with the weapon.
She darted into one of the buildings and picked up one of the demo charges, fending off the geth the best she could. She quickly swiped some thermal clips from the nearby toolbox. She also uncovered a log on a nearby terminal and played it as she quickly reloaded her assault rifle.
"We need a core sample to get a timeline of the rate of radiation increase but our equipment keeps dying on us." Tali's voice came from the terminal, "Shepard once used a mining laser to clear some rubble back on Therum. Maybe I can do something similar with the demolition charges."
After picking up the charges, Kacey quickly shot each and every geth in her path directly in the head as she left the building. Kacey ducked, dived and weaved in and out of cover towards the pillar to set the charges.
"Garrus! Grunt! Cover me while I set these charges!" Kacey ordered.
"Done." Grunt said as he continued to plough through the geth.
Kacey managed to set the charges and ran a fair distance back as the charges exploded, destroying the pillar. The trio then reconvened inside the building as Kacey saw more dead bodies of both the geth and quarians. Garrus was quick to shoot one that was crawling over to them as Kacey walked further inside.
"Quarian architecture." Garrus mused, "There's two words you expect to hear together."
"But this colony is deep in geth territory." Kacey replied, "Why would the quarians come here?"
"Hello? Is anyone there?" a voice rang through a console.
"Tali?" Kacey said as she turned on her heel and made her way over to the console.
"Tali, it's Shepard." Kacey said, "I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any surviors must have fallen back."
"We knew this mission was high risk." Tali replied, "Damn it. And what are you doing here, Shepard? We're in the middle of geth space!"
"I was in the neighbourhood. I thought you might need a hand. Oh, and Garrus wants to say hi."
"Garrus?"
"Hi, Tali." The turian replied.
"Thanks for coming, both of you." Tali replied, "It's good to hear your voices. Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I got the data I needed, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of geth outside."
"It looks like somebody sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Can you get it open on your end?" Kacey asked.
"Let me see." Tali mused, "Yes, I can do it. Here. Should be unlocked now. Be careful Shepard. And please, do what you can to keep Kal'Reegar alive."
"Will do, Tali."