"So, looking forward to your first Mako drop?" Shepard asked her non-human teammates as they all gathered around the lockers, running final checks on their weapons and securing them in place.
Anderson's 'advice' upon reaching the Artemius Tau cluster had been to look for the prothean ruins and there could be little doubt that the planet best known for prothean sites was Therum.
Unfortunately it was also the planet with the highest population, with Eldfell-Ashland having multiple mines on the planet and building the appropriate towns and infrastructure to support their workers. That meant the chance of their presence remaining secret once they entered orbit was relatively low. Yes she had a stealth ship, but it was still visible to the naked eye.
She had tried to minimize the risk by having the Normandy's approach vector bring them in on the other side of the planet to Nova Yekaterinburg, sticking to the least inhabited areas as they conducted orbital scans on known prothean sites for any signs of activity.
Now that they had narrowed the search down to a handful of possible locations, the only way to know for sure was to go down and check the remaining ones out.
"God no, Mako drops are horrible." To her surprise it wasn't any of the aliens that responded to her question and she raised an incredulous eyebrow at Ash.
"What was that Williams?"
"Uh, I mean they're horrible ma'am." Ashley tried to correct herself but was wrong in her assumption of what the commander's problem had been.
"They're not! They're amazing and- Ah..." She broke off her protestations with a noise of understanding as she remembered the Gunnery Chief's service record. She'd been stuck on planetary defense and other crap postings her entire career.
"You've not dropped since basic have you? Yeah those drops are pretty nasty, nobody actually seems to know what they're doing back then."
"I've dropped since basic and I agree with the chief." Kaidan stated and Shepard turned to mock glare at him.
"What is this, a mutiny? Whipping people might not be considered an acceptable source of naval discipline anymore but I'm sure I can come up with some kind of punishment."
The lieutenant shrugged clearly not taking her threats seriously, the fact that she wasn't serious was besides the point.
"Sorry Commander, I just find them too rough, they seem to make me nauseous."
"Too rough? The Mako's like gliding on ice compared to a Grizzly! I can't believe you've spent this long in the Alliance and not served with anyone who knows how to drive. Wait, actually I can... I assure you you're in safe hands with me Alenko. I guarantee you the smoothest ride of your life." Shepard missed his reaction to the comment as she turned immediately to Tali who had her hand in the air.
"Umm, I'm sorry Shepard but what actually IS a Mako drop?"
The commander smiled benevolently.
"It's a vehicular insertion technique. I was surprised when I found out the Alliance was the only military that really use it. Most species seem to prefer to use shuttles or land the ship so you can just drive off the ramp, but finding an acceptable landing zone can leave you hundreds of kilometers away from the objective so-"
"It's flying a tank." Wrex interrupted her long winded explanation.
"That's not flying!" Came an indignant protest from the ship's speakers, Shepard rolling her eyes at her pilot's eavesdropping even though she concurred with his statement.
"Agreed. It's more like falling with style."
...
Nikki wished she'd thought to put a camera in the Mako as she listened to the various responses of her squad as they hurtled through the air. She longed to see their faces but the drop required her full attention.
One eye remained focused on the altimeter at all times, the other surveying the fast approaching ground for any potential obstacles. As a mechanic she'd had to fix far too many torn chassis from where a distracted driver had allowed an unseen rock to rip apart the bottom of the vehicle or propel it cartwheeling into the air.
She didn't need a spare eye to check what buttons she was pressing as she hit the thrusters at the appropriate times to slow their descent, knowing exactly where each control was from long years of experience.
Of course it was physically impossible to land without some kind of rebound, unless you planned on continuing to plow down through the ground leaving a rocky crater or gaping chasm behind that is, but her skill made it feel more like bouncing on a trampoline than the usual jerky, often bruise inducing, recoil.
She wrestled with the steering as it tried to judder in response to the wheels hitting the ground, keeping their course straight as they rode out the last few bumps and resorted to normal driving. Then she braked and turned round in her seat, raising an eyebrow at the others.
"Well?"
"Much better than I expected." Ash allowed, while Kaidan admitted: "Best I've ever had."
"That was fun, I want to do it again!" Wrex boomed, earning himself a wide smile from the commander.
"I think I'm going to die." Tali supplied and Shepard's enthusiasm quickly vanished as she stood up from the driver's seat and made her way to the back in concern, activating her omni-tool to conduct a scan.
"Did you get a suit breach?"
"No, but I feel like half my organs are still in the cargo bay." The quarian groaned and Nikki couldn't help but laugh as she clapped her companionably on the shoulder.
"You get used to it I promise. What about you Garrus?"
The turian's eyes were wide, his mandibles twitching comically as the commander made her way past him back to her seat.
"That was... That was..."
"That good huh?"
"You humans are crazy! Is that what those theme parks I heard about in C-Sec are like? Sort of scary and exhilarating at the same time."
"Don't know. Didn't have any on Mindoir."
"Wait, you've never been to a theme park ma'am?"
"What? If I want excitement I can jump out a shuttle. And on that note, time for an anticlimactic drive through the countryside."
...
After the adrenaline inducing drop, the first couple of hours on Therum's surface WAS rather anticlimactic.
The archaeological equipment seen on the orbital scan of the first dig site had been abandoned, the life signs belonging to wildlife that had claimed the spot for themselves. A quick sweep through, just to make sure, found nothing to help with their mission and they clambered back into the Mako.
The second prothean ruin was slightly more exciting but no more profitable as they ran into a group of Blue Suns mercenaries who were looting the place for anything nailed down (everything not nailed down had vanished long ago).
The team's enthusiasm was beginning to wane as they drove on to the next location, fortunately the Normandy's shipside crew hadn't all stopped working the moment the CO went ashore and the comm link crackled to life.
"Commander, we're picking up some strange readings a few klicks away from your position. Really strange. Like off the damn charts."
"Alright, send me the nav point." They changed course, managing to drive for almost five minutes before a geth ship raced over head deploying enemies in their path. The machines weren't like anything she'd seen on Eden Prime though and the commander found herself asking: "Tali, what are those?"
Their resident geth expert peered at the rapidly approaching shapes before replying: "I think they're armatures."
"What's an armat-" Shepard cut off as she wrenched the steering wheel to the side and hit the thrusters to avoid a pulse of blue energy. "You know what? Doesn't matter. Williams, open fire!"
The combined machine gun and canon fire took care of one while Nikki neutralized the other by ramming it into the lava.
Targets down they drove on, the steep mountains and streams of molten sludge forcing them to twist and turn their way towards the objective.
Shepard briefly wondered why the geth hadn't dropped a larger force, surely they didn't think two units would be enough to stop her? She figured it out a moment later; they weren't trying to stop her, only slow her down. She cast her mind back to the orbital scans.
"Alenko have we got some kind of structure coming up?"
The lieutenant manipulated the displays before nodding.
"Yeah, an old Eldfell-Ashland compound." Checking there were no enemies nearby, the N7 pulled the Mako to a halt so she could take a look.
Birds eye views couldn't tell you everything but it looked like a pretty sturdy gatehouse would be blocking their way in a few minutes and she couldn't imagine the geth not mounting some kind of defense there.
"Alright I'm gonna scout ahead. Vakarian, Williams with me." She said decisively, standing up and unholstering her rifle. "Alenko you've got the wheel, Wrex the guns. Tali reckon you can handle the HUDs?"
The quarian nodded.
"Good. Advance up to the last bend but don't pass it until you get my signal. Oh and be careful, don't damage my baby."
...
Shepard lay prone on the mountainside, eye to the scope of her sniper rifle as she made note of the enemy positions below. Garrus and Ash doing the same from similar but different locations.
The three heavy turrets planted outside the shuttered gate were enough on their own to make the N7 glad of her decision to scout ahead. Even the Mako's shields wouldn't last long under a sustained barrage from multiple anti-tank missiles.
Of course if she'd stumbled upon them without warning, with only seconds to react, she may well have maneuvered the IFV down the narrow opening on the right to avoid the devastating firepower.
From her current position she could clearly see the trap that would have led her into, another turret covering the escape route.
Reversing back into cover would lead to them being pinned down, guns locked on to the edges of the cover on both sides and prepared to fire the moment the vehicle reappeared. The Mako's own weapons too far back on the hull to be able to get a line of sight until half the vehicle was exposed and under fire.
She would undoubtedly have come up with some way to emerge victorious but it would have been messy and rushed. The chances of coming out completely unscathed rather slim as she reacted to events as they occurred. Never truly knowing what would happen next or what the extent of their opposition was.
Fortunately she had cottoned on before things got that far and now had ample time to plan in advance.
It was a pity they weren't up against organics. If they were Shepard could have snuck down, silently dispatching the odd opponent with her combat knife while making her way through the compound to the controls, turning off the turrets or hacking their friend/foe identifiers so they turned on the enemy and opening up the gates to let the Mako in.
It was well within her skillset and there were more than enough gaps in the sentry positions to pull it off.
Unfortunately the geth's networked intelligence prohibited any chance of a stealthy approach. As soon as she took down the first unit, the others would all know.
Instead they would have to strike hard and fast. Taking out as many of the enemy as they could as quickly as possible.
The juggernaut was the deadliest foe but it was also the best defended. It wouldn't be going down quickly so she begrudgingly resigned the heavy hitter to last.
She assigned Ashley the standard trooper, while she and Garrus would tag team the rocket trooper. Shepard shooting first with disruptor ammo to bring down its shields enabling the turian to finish it with armour piercing rounds.
In order to prevent their rifles overheating they would then take a moment to throw grenades and overloads at the automated turret that would undoubtedly be searching for them by now, seeking to weaken it for the incoming second team.
Kaidan would drive straight for the gap in the rock instead of wasting time and energy facing off against the triple guns at the gate.
Aggressive driving, combined with already knowing the layout, should help the shields hold out long enough for Wrex to open up with the Mako's canon and destroy the turret. Meanwhile the snipers would turn back to their secondary targets of a geth destroyer and shock trooper.
Once they were down everybody would finally be free to focus on the juggernaut.
There was a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong and timing would be crucial, but after running through alternatives and contingencies in her head, the N7 decided it was the best plan they had and filled the rest of the squad in, making certain they all knew exactly what was required of them when.
With the exception of an extra rocket trooper coming out of the gatehouse, the plan went off without a hitch. The only damage the team sustained being to their shields.
Leaving Garrus to cover them from his perch on high ground, Nikki and Ash swept through the handful of buildings in the compound, clearing them all before hitting the switch on the gate controls. Everyone climbed back into the Mako so they could carry on their merry way.
The commander made sure to reclaim her driving seat but she allowed Tali to keep monitoring the HUDs, Kaidan keeping an eye over her shoulder to pass on any tips or draw attention to anything the quarian missed.
Tali was not only a quick learner but a natural with anything technology orientated and Shepard was pleased to have more than one person capable of filling each role in the vehicle.
The krogan and the gunnery chief were quite content to argue over who got to play with the big guns and according to their service records both Alenko and Vakarian were trained in evasive driving in normal, zero and plus G gravity.
Although admittedly neither of them would get the chance while she was in the Mako.
Despite more geth trying to get in their way, they made good time as they drove towards the navpoint for the strange signal. Around bends in tunnels, behind barricades, or just out in the open on top of hills, it mattered not; all foes fell to the might of the Mako's firepower.
Well... excepting the units that fell beneath their wheels instead.
All good things must come to an end however and eventually a rockfall too narrow for the IFV to pass through forced the whole squad to disembark and carry on on foot. Shepard first making sure to mark the vehicle's position on her nav.
They advanced, spread out so they couldn't all be taken out by a solitary rocket blast. Running from cover to cover and disposing of any enemies they came across on the way.
The red light of a targeting laser gave Shepard a split moment's warning before a high velocity shot passed through her shields and tech armour, ending as a dent in her ceramic plating.
Without the prototype technology it probably would have torn right through her flesh, and if she hadn't instinctively moved when she saw the red dot it would have hit a vital organ instead of the shoulder that would now be badly bruised tonight.
To her surprise, Kaidan enveloped her in a secondary barrier to help protect her while her shields recharged and she nodded a heartfelt thanks to him while Garrus lined up his own shot on the geth sniper.
Even from a distance they saw the robot fall from the tall tower.
Nothing else could even slow them down after that, not until they made it up the slope and approached the mine.
The whine of a geth ship overhead had them all scattering for cover as more snipers landed alongside a colossus and something not even Tali recognised.
"Leave the colossus til last, concentrate fire on one or two units at a time. Everything we take out diminishes the combined intelligence of the whole squad." Shepard ordered as she threw an overload followed by a grenade at one of the snipers.
Wrex finished it off with a shotgun blast and she switched targets, rapidly generating a miniature scrap heap until only two hostiles were left.
"Stay still you little fucker!"
...
Shepard debated leaving the snipers on overwatch outside the mine, keeping an eye on their escape route and making sure nothing snuck up behind them.
It was a sensible precaution and an N7 plus krogan with two more people as backup ought to be more than enough to handle whatever was still waiting for them in the bowels of the earth.
Unfortunately it was clear Williams was beginning to flag in the heat and she didn't want to leave Garrus on his own without support. There'd be no point leaving someone who used a shorter range weapon and to top it all off if the geth used their jamming technology again then there was a chance she'd never receive the attempted warnings anyway.
Instead she had everybody pair up. Not liking the tight confines and lack of cover in the narrow tunnel, she insisted on 25 metres between each fire team to prevent clustering together within grenade radius, Alenko and Vakarian at the back tasked with watching the rear.
A minor skirmish just as the tunnel widened into a cavern was barely worthy of the term. Her and Wrex terminating the hostiles before the next team even reached their position.
The next tactical decision came at the elevators, they could have all squeezed in together but that would have been the height of stupidity should anything be waiting to ambush them at the bottom. The people closest the door blocking the line of fire of the people at the back. Dismissing that non-option, she rode down first with Wrex and Williams; all three of them with their shotguns ready.
It was all clear as they emerged, but the lesson she'd been drumming in to their skulls during transit about always maintaining 360 degree security even after clearing a location was proven essential as several drones rose up from below them.
They opened fire almost immediately but still weren't quick enough to beat the loud retort from a sniper rifle as Garrus picked one off from the level above.
Targets neutralised, team two followed them down before they all moved to the second elevator planning on repeating the procedure.
The plan went to the wayside as the elevator screeched to a premature halt with sparks flying.
Updating the others through comms, Shepard dropped the short gap down to the floor, discovering a blue barrier on her left, an asari hovering in a crucifixion pose on the other side. A quick check against the mental photo she'd memorised confirmed the identity as Dr T'Soni, but she ignored the archaeologist's cries for help a moment as she swept for hostiles.
This time she didn't need to order her squad, Ash and Wrex automatically taking up position to cover her as she finally approached Liara for a chat.
"Can you believe it? Geth outside the veil?"
Nikki's sarcastic comment of: 'really? I hadn't noticed' was bitten back in favour of a more professional response as she quizzed the young maiden, paying close attention to her reactions throughout.
They'd just gotten to the part about impenetrable prothean barrier curtains and how to get past them when she was interrupted by a shout from above.
"Commander, you've got incoming!"
Shepard flashed a grin at the trapped asari as she traded her shotgun for an assault rifle and headed towards the fighting, calling over her shoulder:
"Don't move, I'll be back in a jiffy."
She fully expected an irritated, scornful remark about not being able to move but instead the asari merely asked in utter bewilderment:
"What's a jiffy?"
...
It was absolutely nerve-racking waiting for the strange human in black armour with the striped arm to reappear. Not long after she'd vanished from sight Liara saw another human and a quarian of all things scramble down from the ruined elevator.
They didn't speak to her as they hurried past, only glancing at her in so much as it was part of their sweep of the room. They disappeared as well, the sounds of gunfire the only proof of their existence.
Suddenly the cacophony of battle ceased.
The silence might have lasted seconds or hours, Liara honestly couldn't tell, but it was drawn out long enough for her to start wondering whether the strangers had survived.
Her hearing strained for the slightest sound, which only led to a sensory overload when there was a sudden beam of light and an almighty explosion, followed by the sound of falling rocks.
"Really Shepard?" Called a flanging voice and then, from the same direction as everybody else had appeared, a turian dropped to the ground, standing up straight with a sniper rifle attached to his back and an assault rifle carried casually in his arms.
Unlike the others he did actually look at her as he strolled past, mandibles flicking in amusement, then he too was gone.
Another eternity of silence passed with nothing to look at but the prothean barrier and then she became aware of noises behind her.
She tried but failed to face them, finally calling out for information.
"Hang on just a little longer doc, almost with you." Called the Alliance commander and Liara swore she could hear a smirk in the voice. Any further queries were cut off as the containment field she was trapped in powered down and she landed on the floor in a heap. "Sorry."
There was the barest hint of a repressed chuckle but it didn't sound malignant and Liara looked up to find a red and white striped arm reaching down to help her up. Her eyes followed the stripe up until it reached a face, sure enough the lips were curled up in a grin, the eyes above a warm swirling pool of brown.
"You ok?" A soft voice asked in concern and the asari nodded.
"Yes. I... How did you get past the barrier? It's supposed to be impenetrable."
The eyes sparkled with mirth, the grin turning lopsided as the human gave a half shrug claiming: "I pushed some buttons."
There was a rumbling chuckle and Liara finally managed to focus behind the human, seeing the unusual squad made up of a mixture of other races. The human male didn't seem particularly pleased for some reason but the rest seemed to be composed of a mix of wariness and amusement. The giant krogan definitely falling into the later category.
"Yeah, 'buttons'... on a mining laser!"
"Oh please, like any of you had a better plan." The commander scoffed but Liara found her attention snapping to a distant rumbling sound.
"Oh no, this entire area is known for seismic activity. We need to get out of here!"
"Great plan. After you." The stripe pointed over to the rest of the squad and the asari hustled to join the aliens on the much sleeker prothean lift.
As it rose, her translator picked up one half of a frantic conversation between the leader and some kind of comedian?
Just as Liara finally started to believe that she might just get out of this mess alive their escape route was blocked by more geth and a krogan, demanding her strange saviours hand her over. With a fast approaching stream of molten lava behind them, it seemed like a foregone conclusion what would happen next.
She was immensely shocked therefore when instead the commander pulled her protectively behind her, other hand bringing up her sidearm as she declared: "She'll stay with us thanks."
Liara was too busy sitting underneath a personal barrier in a puddle of bewilderment to pay much attention to the fight, but suddenly she was pulled to her feet and urged to run.
She followed the simple instruction to the best of her ability only to find herself stumbling over a rock and crashing painfully to the ground.
She looked up as the others careened past her, their own survival instinct overruling any sense of compassion for her plight.
Maybe it wasn't a lack of compassion after all but simply that they didn't see her, considering how the last figure suddenly doubled back pulling her up and before she could protest slinging her over their shoulders like a sack of vegetables, resuming their run at a far faster pace then she had been moving at before her fall.
Bright sunlight pricked her eyes as they emerged outside and she didn't even get a proper look at the ship before they were up the ramp and she was carefully deposited on the floor.
...
Shepard glanced around the cargo hold as she put down the archaeologist, making sure everyone was accounted for. She was breathing heavily but still considered it a win that she wasn't doubled over on the floor like most her squad.
Satisfied they were all present and correct, she activated her omni-tool, sending Joker a set of co-ordinates and verbally ordering him to "GO!"
The fact that she didn't get any witty comeback regarding the use of words like 'please' and 'thank you' proved the seriousness of their situation.
"Alright everyone, good job. Debrief in thirty minutes. Ash can you show Dr T'Soni to the medbay please? I don't know how long you were trapped down there doctor but I'd rather not risk you passing out in the corridors. I'll feel much happier after my ship's medical officer gives you a clean bill of health. Ash, tell Doctor Chakwas I'd like T'Soni at the debrief if at all possible but I can send her back afterwards if needs be."
Nikki waited until the elevator door shut behind the women before turning to the rest of the team.
"Kaidan, Garrus, I want you to keep an eye on her. Subtly. My gut says we can trust her but I don't want to risk being blindsided before we know for sure."
They nodded and went to the lockers to put away their combat gear. Shepard waited a little longer, staying by the door in her armour until Joker informed her they'd reached her navpoint.
The ramp opened once more and she darted back outside into Therum's heat.
Erupting volcano or no, she wasn't leaving her darling Mako behind.