Chapter 77
"Daro if you don't sit still I'm going to sedate you." Chambers said, grinning at his counterpart.
"I'm sorry Simon it' just... First Contact, with a new species!" Xen said
"Yeah neither of us know what that's like or anything." Chambers said, smirking, ignoring when Xen slapped his arm in reproach. It had been an agonizing two hours while they had waited for Shan to resume communication. In that time they'd compiled all of the information they had so far for their report. From what they observed with Shan, he appeared Salarian, however he was covered in what looked like primitive tribal markings and tattoos. His speech was far more relaxed sounding than the Salarians Xen had met, and he also appeared physically more robust. Their technology looked like it was Salarian a very long time ago and had since organically evolved into something greater. Each ship they were able to scan showed it was capable of generating far more energy than it needed, however the excessive amounts of eezo showed that they were still element-zero based instead of antimatter or fusion based technology.
There were thousands of ships however in a constant stream going to and from their star, collecting and delivering something that they had yet to identify. Xen and Chambers had agreed not to scan the planet, in a gesture of good faith with their hosts to avoid alarming them. Aside from the convoy between their planet and the star there were hundreds of other ships buzzing about the sector and all appeared to of similar specification, however they were configured for different roles.
"Admirals, we have an incoming vessel. It's big..." the helmsman said, and Xen and Chambers looked up at the view screen. The Vessel, a two-kilometer monstrosity dropped into normal space and assumed a defensive position between the Mayhem and their planet. Scans confirmed that its many, many, many weapons were powered up but not armed or locked.
"What do you think, Simon?" Xen asked, slightly nervous.
"They probably expect us to reinforce our shields and power up our weapons. Let's shock the shit out of them." Chambers said. Xen smiled and nodded.
"Helm, bring down defensive shields and stand down all weapons." Xen said. The lights in the bridge area glowed slightly brighter as less energy was being diverted to defensive and offensive systems. Immediately after they received a communications request from the new vessel. Xen acknowledged the connection.
"Alien vessel, I must admit, I'm curious as to your actions. We showed up with a warship almost as mighty as yours and you respond by powering down your shields and weapons... Why?" The alien captain asked, this time a female Salarian with markings similar but obviously different to Shan's.
"The same reason we haven't scanned your planet yet. We wish to demonstrate that we mean no harm." Xen said.
"That is interesting. Our leader, Shan, has requested our presence as a precaution, we request that you accompany us to the station at the coordinates that we are sending you now. It is the only one in this system that can dock ships this large." The captain said
"Understood, Captain. We will proceed immediately." Chambers said. The alien captain appeared confused and looked at Xen.
"Forgive me, Captain, I cannot understand what your first officer said. It appears our translators are malfunctioning?" The alien captain said. Xen giggled and Chambers crossed his arms defensively, glaring at Xen.
"I think it is because he's speaking his species' language. Your translators are capable of translating Kheelish, but not Human languages. We can provide you with the necessary translation matrix once aboard. My 'First Officer' simply acknowledged your request and said that we'd proceed immediately." Xen said. The alien captain nodded and cut communication.
"I notice you didn't correct her misunderstanding of my rank.." Chambers said.
"Quiet, Commander." Xen said, grinning.
Liara and Tali were moving from place to place in Liara's domicile upgrading several of the systems involved in her research equipment. Liara had not thought to ask the Geth to go over every aspect of her equipment, so they hadn't ever mentioned the glaring inefficiencies. While secure enough to make an STG hacker cry,the equipment was wired to Asari technological standards, emphasizing aesthetics and raw compute power over efficiency.
"So if these processors are slower than the equipment I brought from Thessia, how will this make it faster?" Liara asked.
"Asari computers are beautiful and very powerful but they are designed around a few very fast, very power-hungry processor cores, and to work faster they simply use more power. This is a fusion of Human and Quarian design, there are thousands of smaller, more efficient cores that distribute the processes evenly, as well as four high power processors capable of chewing through more complicated issues. Haven't you noticed the room has gotten cooler since we shut yours down?" Tali said.
"Now that you mention it yes, it feels a few degrees cooler." Liara said.
"That's because your machine was always drawing huge amounts of power even when just running background tasks. This new one will bring cores up as needed and distribute things evenly. We moved to this model on the flotilla because power was always at a premium, Humanity had been doing it this way since before their discovery of antimatter technology and simply kept it up to maintain efficiency. Unless Rothschild is aboard, the computers aboard the Normandy can operate for a month at full capacity on emergency power, probably a lot longer on the Tyrannicide." Tali explained.
"Fascinating. Do you think it would be ok if I kept this equipment after my assignment here is complete? My office in Cairo always got so hot even with the air conditioning and I think I know why now." Liara asked.
"Of course. Well I'll have to get Jane to approve it, but I don't see an issue. The Alliance freely shares information processing technology with the Asari Republics and the Turian Hierarchy." Tali said. She then activated the new computer system and immediately after it popped to life Rothschild appeared as a holographic businessman. Tali frowned, immediately noticing he was not in his normal playful mood.
"Lieutenant Zorah, are you armed?" Rothschild asked.
"Of course, they trained us to go nowhere unarmed." Tali said, gesturing at her ever-present sidearm.
"A contingent of Geth is inbound with armor for you and Dr. T'soni, your lives are in immediate danger. I'm afraid I must order you to protect Dr. T'soni at all costs, her work is vital to our efforts against the reapers and she is the ambassador's daughter." Rothschild said, a look of loathing on his face as he issued the order.
"Yes, Sir. Has Captain Shepard been informed?" Tali asked.
"Affirmative. She and Kurg's squad are getting geared up as we speak." Rothschild said
"Forgive me, Mr. Rothschild, but isn't there a Geth Unit on the roof watching things?" Liara asked.
"That unit was destroyed by a sniper five minutes ago, I've been trying to reach you since. I've automatically engaged the mag locks on the doors and windows, but this domicile is not rated to hold against a full assault." Rothschild said. Liara's hands shot up to her mouth as tears pooled in her eyes.
"Oh that poor Geth." Liara said. Rothschild turned to Liara with an expression of kindness.
"Don't worry, Dr. T'soni, the programs aboard that unit made it back to the consensus in time. The unit on the roof is just empty hardware, no lives were lost." Rothschild said.
"Oh thank the goddess." Liara said.
"Any movement detected around us?" Tali asked, slamming a thermal clip into her sidearm.
"Negative, but there appears to be a highly trained group of individuals attempting to brute force hack the security on this building. We cannot positively identify them however it is most likely Cerberus." Rothschild explained.
"I'll be right back, this dress is not suited for combat." Liara said, ducking into her room. Tali activated the newly installed computer and punched in a few commands bringing up a satellite view of a 500 meter radius around the domicile. The thermal imaging only showed civilians milling about. She stared at the dot on the center of the screen hoping to catch faint movement in peripheral vision but could see nothing.
"Lieutenant Zorah?" Liara asked. Tali looked up and was surprised to see Liara wearing a full set of Asari commando armor and holding a pair of assault rifles, one of which she was offering to her.
"Wow, Dr. T'soni, do all Asari archaeologists travel with small arsenals?" Tali said, grinning, and happily accepting one of the assault rifles.
"It was a condition of my mother accepting my decision to study off world, she insisted I go through full commando training." Liara said, expertly manipulating the settings on her weapon causing its stock to lengthen slightly and the sights to adjust their positioning. Tali did the same, making a few manual adjustments since the weapon was configured to Liara's presets. Liara handed her a pair of wire snips.
"Cut off the trigger guard, your fingers are larger than mine." Liara said.
"Oh, um. Thanks I didn't even think of that." Tali said, making the modification. A distant crack followed by a loud boom that caused the domicile to shudder got both of their attention, causing them to leap to the ground below the level of the now shuttered windows. Three seconds later and they heard the telltale hum of the kinetic barrier springing back to life. Then there was another distant crack and this time a louder boom, followed by another in rapid suggestion. The lights dimmed, and the kinetic barriers did not return.
"Damn, they got the shield generator." Tali said.
"Get ready to fight, Lieutenant." Liara said.
"You know you can call me Tali." Tali said grinning.
"Only if you call me Liara." Liara replied, smiling. A shower of sparks erupted from the edge of the front door as a plasma cutter went to work on it. Tali donned the welding goggles in her tool kit and Liara's helmet featured protective shading so they lay prone on the ground their weapons aimed at the door. Just as the plasma stream cut through the bolt mechanism, Tali heard something that made her heart soar. A guttural roar followed by a loud thud that caused the door to cave in admitting a half a ton of enraged Krogan and a now critically injured Quarian woman dressed like a ninja.
"Afternoon, ladies." Kurg said, grinning, seemingly ignoring the ping of bullets colliding with his shields. The wreckage behind Kurg shifted as a Geth unit stepped over it to deliver Tali's armor as well as a shotgun, her favorite weapon. Liara was shocked to see Tali immediately disrobe entirely and begin getting into her armor. Kurg's shield dropped and a bullet struck him him in the hump causing a small jet of blood to erupt over his head.
"Goddamnit, hurry up and get dressed Tali we've got jerks to murder." Kurg said turning back to the door and opening fire against a newly revealed fortified position.
Tali, now armored, attached her shotgun to the mag lock on her back and readied the assault rifle. The Geth unit led the way out, acting as mobile cover for the two organics it had been sent to safeguard. The street in front of Liara's home had become an unmitigated war zone, there were dozens of people, Quarian and Human dressed in all black armor being bogged down by Kurg and his squad.
"Kurg, where's Shepard?" Tali shouted
"She's on the Tyrannicide, Right after these assholes showed up a bunch of unidentified ships showed up and started attacking orbital defenses.
"Geth, are any of you at the dig site?" Liara asked a unit whose legs had been shot out from underneath it but was still otherwise functional.
"Affirmative, twenty infiltrators and a prime are guarding the site. No hostiles are detected there." T he Geth reported.
"Good, thank you. Please be careful." Liara said, propping the unit up against a wall so that it could still fire its weapon.
"Of course, Dr. T'soni." The Geth said, raising its weapon and downing a Cerberus soldier that had attempted to sneak up behind her.
"Liara, I need you to stay with me, we have to get you to safety." Tali said. Liara nodded.
"City hall would be the best bet. It's fortified and it will be where the civilians have been evacuated to, we can go and help defend them." Liara offered. Tali agreed and she, Kurg and the rest of his squad fell back to the city hall building.
'Fortified' it seemed was a little more than an understatement. The central building was now surrounded by a three meter tall, two meter thick wall that is normally retracted underground. Atop it were machine gun turrets manned by Humans, Quarians and Geth as well as shield generators that created a blue, translucent dome surrounding the building protecting the space immediately above it. Thankfully Cerberus appeared to be entirely ignoring it given the fact that it was so overwhelmingly defended.
The Normandy ground assault team weaved their way through the streets of the settlement, but were blocked at every turn by Cerberus assailants. Despite their advanced weapons and training they could not cope with combined Human, Krogan, Quarian and Geth tactics and were defeated with relative ease. That was until they made it to an intersection a kilometer from the city hall when a geth dropship of old design flew overhead and dropped dozens of platforms. Kurg initially went to greet them before being tackled to the ground by one of the platforms that had accompanied them just in time for a storm of gunfire to streak overhead.
"What the fuck?" Kurg demanded.
"Kurg Lieutenant, those are not Geth." The platform announced, twisting a dial on its chest, withdrawing one of its power cells. It aimed a laser from its fingertip at it and then lobbed it towards the enemy platforms. As it detonated a column of plasma five meters in diameter erupted form the center of them converting them to glowing chunks of molten metal settling on the newly glassed ground. Kurg activated his omnitool.
"Captain Shepard we got trouble down here. Hostile platforms, the Geth with us informed us that they are not Geth." Kurg shouted.
"Understood, we're having trouble up here too. We're shooting down as many old Geth vessels as Cerberus. Once we're in the position we'll drop reinforcements, and the Asari are sending their forces." Shepard reported.
"Understood Captain. We'll hunker down here until reinforcements arrive." Kurg said
"Negative, Lieutenant. We've got a transport inbound, we need you at the Prothean dig site. While Cerberus has been looking for Dr. T'soni, these 'Angry Ones' have been fucking around there." Shepard said.
"Understood, Captain. These Cerberus pukes were getting boring anyway. I'll report once we arrive. Kurg out." Kurg said, killing the connection.
Shortly thereafter, a sleek Alliance transport ship arrived and everyone filed in while the Pilot covered their entrance from the open side door. Once aboard they traveled at speed towards their destination, several high-energy projectiles pinging off the kinetic barriers as they went. It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination, and shortly after spilling out of the troop carrier, Kurg stopped in his tracks and stared up in horror at the Lovecraftian monstrosity descending upon the ruins.