Joker grunted as he tried to keep the Normandy on track for the Reaper. It was easier said than done thanks to the high winds of the Dwarf star. As he cursed under his breath, Shepard leaned in next to Joker. "What's with all the chop?"
"Doing my best. The wind's gusting at 500 kph," Joker examined the LADAR read-out. "There's a second ship alongside the Reaper. It's not transmitting an IFF but the LADAR reads that its silhouette is Geth,"
"I guess we know why the research team stopped reporting in," Zenna said, but she knew that wasn't the only possible reason.
Before she could say anything else, the ship stopped shaking. "What just happened?"
Joker looked back briefly. "The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active. We just passed inside its envelope,"
"I cannot decide if that's a good or bad thing," she muttered.
The Reaper was impossible to miss. The hulking giant floated there with light beams of the star in the distance shining past its legs and giant frame. The Reaper had its centre mass blown out and parts of it were decaying.
"Eye of the hurricane, huh?" Joker remarked.
"Yeah, just keep an eye out," Zenna warned.
OOOOO
The door of the airlock opened allowing the squad to enter. Zenna, Mordin and Tali walked into the Reaper, weapons at the ready. As they moved, they came across one of the security personnel. The ID tag on his charred corpse was the only thing to remain. Zenna and Mordin squatted down while Tali unlocked the door. Once it opened, she walked through and good a good look around.
"No welcoming party to greet us," Tali observed. "This is not good,"
"We should keep an eye out for any Geth," Zenna reminded as she and Mordin stood.
The squad moved forward. Shepard activated some of the terminals they came across in the corridor. All the logs depicted scientists slowly becoming indoctrinated as they heard whispers or getting very terrible feelings from just being inside the Reaper. But as she listened her scientist side began to kick in.
"It looks like this Reaper isn't as dead as they thought," Shepard said. "Reapers may have indoctrinated them without them knowing. We may face some reaper forces here,"
"Should minimize our time here," Mordin concluded. "To ensure we too do not become indoctrinated,"
Before they moved a new log activated. On it was cat girl, but the shape of her irises and scales along the sides of her jaw made it clear what she was.
"This is Doctor Sakura," she said as she shook her head. "Log, 284. People have been acting wired here. Just the other day, I saw two of them argue about the same woman that they married. Not just in name, but everything right down to the flower in her hair and personality. I have no idea what's going on, but I'll try to keep a record of it," and with that, the log ended.
Zenna looked to her fellow squad mates and then back at the terminal. "Did she…"
"Hmmm the log shows that this was taken after some of the other scientists were experiencing indoctrination," Mordin said as he checked the terminal. "Interesting, she wasn't being affected by the process,"
"It's something to keep an eye out for," Tali said.
Zenna nodded and the team entered through the next airlock. As the door closed behind them, the Reaper shook.
"Normandy to shore party," Joker called over the radio.
"What just happened?" Zenna asked him.
"The Reaper put up kinetic barriers. I don't think we can get in through our side," he explained, his voice filled with concern.
"As curious as I am about the Reapers, I'd rather not be trapped inside one," Tali joked.
"We'll have to take out the barrier generators from in here," Shepard suggested. "Any idea where they are?"
"At the moment of activation, I detected a heat spike in what is likely the Reaper's mass effect core," EDI answered. "Sending the coordinates now. Be advised. This core is also maintaining the Reaper's altitude,"
"So when we take the barriers down to escape, the wreck falls into the planet core," Zenna said as she did the maths.
"And that means everyone dies," Joker finished. "Yeah, got it,"
"If any helmsmen can pull us off this thing before it reaches crush depth, it's you, Joker," Shepard encouraged. "We'll make a sweep for survivors and recover what data we can. Stand by,"
"Aye, aye. Good hunting," Joker said before the comm cut.
"So much for proof for the council," the Commander mumbled.
The airlock door opened up. More charred bodies were scattered over the ground. Some of the equipment was damaged and covered in coagulated blood. The area was massive with tunnels that looked like they could go on forever.
"Fascinating..." Mordin gasped as he scanned the area with Zenna. "Need scanners. Much data to gather from here."
"You know, this morning I didn't think I would go inside a Reaper," Tali said in a nervous tone. "This is disturbing,"
"You're preaching to the choir," Zenna muttered.
After scanning what she wanted Shepard approached the terminal in front of them and activated it. It played security footage of two Cerberus scientists speaking with each other. Both of them were arguing over a memory they both had and which one it belonged to.
'What the hell is Indoctrination doing to these people?' she thought as a new log from Sakura activated.
"Log 294," She started as she looked at a datapad. "I've been monitoring my colleges from a distance and indoctrination is taking a hold of them. I still haven't found out why I'm not being affected. I think it's time for a more direct approach," the log then ended.
The team looked at each other with confused looks. Even Mordin was stumped. With a shrug, the group continued down the catwalk. As they approached the crates, a familiar groan emanated from below the catwalk.
"Ah, Kilah," Tali yelled as she saw several Husks pull themselves up over the railing and grabbed her shotgun.
As the Husk began to show themselves Zenna drew her pistol and began to fire with the other two at the cybernetic creatures. It didn't take long for the Husks to fall, but more kept coming forcing Zenna to grab her assault rifle.
"Move back!" Shepard ordered.
They fell back and allowed the Husks to follow after them. Tali then noticed the explosive crate that the Husks were passing. She acted quickly and fired a shotgun blast at the crate blowing it up. The area was quiet once again.
"Area appears to be clear," Mordin said. "For now,"
The other two said nothing as they continued forward on the catwalk. As they moved Mordin's mouth decided to move faster than his brain.
"Hmm. Husk origin unclear. Possibly from Geth. Evidence suggests they come from Sovereign," he muttered
"Geth origin never made sense to me," Tali thought out loud. "This proves that the Husks come from the Reapers,"
"Here comes another wave," Zenna called out as she fired.
A dozen Husks pulled themselves over the railing. Mordin fired an incineration blast at the explosive tank next to the Husks. Kira fired a concussion shot at an Abomination causing it to blow and send the other husks into their companions allowing her to finish them off.
"I have never seen that type of Husk," Tali said.
"Abominations," Shepard replied. "We ran into them on the Collector ship. They're suicide bombers, so don't let them get close," she said as they advanced.
"I'll keep that in mind-" Several shots interrupted her with each shot taking out a Husk.
"Sniper!" Tali yelled.
The group took cover against the wall. Mordin looked around the corner and saw no one.
"Did not see the shooter," Mordin said. "Possible survivor?"
Zenna fell silent as she sniffed the air before shaking her head. "I'm not getting anything that indicates fresh flesh," she shrugged. "But if they are alive, maybe they can tell us what happened here," she then jerked her head to the side and the team moved.
They entered the open area in the direction of where the shots came from. Several roars and moans came from across the room. A few Husks pulled themselves over the railing on the platform they stood on.
Zenna aimed her rifle and pulled the trigger but an omnibus click sounded with a curse she ejected the thermal clip before firing. All three of them moved into cover and primarily targeted those who got close and the abominations. As the last husk fell the team exited cover.
It was then that Zenna looked at the far end of the room and noticed a strange style to the room. She walked up to the railings and faced the spikes. The rest of the team walked up to Shepard and stared at the unusual structure of spikes.
"We've seen these before, Shepard," Tali said. "I believe humans call them Dragon's teeth. The Geth used them on Eden Prime,"
Shepard leaned forward over the railing and pushed herself back before looking around. "Look how they set up this room. It's arranged around this structure as an altar. They worshipped it," she said pointing at the room.
"Why in the wide world of sanity would they do that?" Tali asked.
"You heard the recordings. They were being indoctrinated," Shepard looked at the structure one last time. "We can't help these people now, but we won't let these machines use their corpses like this,"
The three entered the airlock on the left. It took a few moments before the airlock cycled through. It was sickening to hear it proudly announce that it has been five days since the last workplace death. The doors opened to the outside of the Reaper ship. The area outside had an atmosphere. Shepard assumed it was because of the field the Reaper has going even in death if the Cerberus personnel were able to work here.
Shepard signalled a couple of her squadmates to move to point. She scanned the area looking for any hostility. Several shots were fired in her direction. She heard several bodies fall behind her. She turned around and saw several Husks on the ground. Then looked in the direction where the shots came from. This time the team saw the shooter, but it wasn't who she was expecting.
On an elevated catwalk, a Geth was crouching holding a Viper sniper rifle. Its body had a large hole in the chest. This Geth looked much more different from the other Geth they have faced before. They stood up and looked at their group. "Shepard-Commander," it said to them before walking away.
The squad made double-takes at what they have just witnessed.
"Sniper was a Geth. Geth can speak?" Mordin asked out loud.
"It shouldn't be able to," Tali replied. "A single Geth should have no more intelligence than a Varren,"
"Maybe they've evolved," Shepard suggested.
"That is a disturbing thought," the Quarrian mused
"Interesting to think about Geth evolution, but incoming hostile!" Mordin called out while pointing and firing at the Husk climbing over the railings,
The squad faced heavy resistance from Husks, Abominations and Scions on their way across the outside area of the Reaper. They managed to get through the almost, endless army of Husk's creatures and made it to the airlock on the other end.
Inside the airlock, Shepard spotted an ancient piece of technology on the terminal on the left. Upon further inspection, she realized that this was the Reaper IFF.
"Looks like Cerberus team was successful in recovering the IFF," Mordin said. "Though crew location is still unknown."
"They're all over the place," Zenna remarked as a log activated.
Sakura appeared on the screen with a panicked look on her face. "This is Doctor Sakura to anyone still alive or has boarded the station. I found the reason why I'm not affected," she then pointed to her scales. "Demi-humans are affected, but not Chimera's," at that Zenna's mouth dropped. "Our physiology thanks to the recent activation of the virus affects our nervous system in such a fundamental way, that the indoctrination field the Reapers possess doesn't affect us. There's something else, I don…" she trailed off as a husk came up from behind her and ripped her to shreds.
The aliens looked to the minotaur next to them who just stared at the terminal. "I'm immune?" Zenna asked before shaking her head and downloading the video and data. "Mordin, can you have a look at the data when we get back?"
"Yes, yes, should provide some very interesting incites," he nodded as Zenna took the data disk.
The other airlock opened but a thick wall of thick glass blocked their path. Up ahead they could see the Geth again working on a terminal. Several Husks were making their approach against this Geth. It turned around briefly to fire several rounds from its pistol to kill a few Geth. The Geth then went to finish its work on the console.
The glass wall went down allowing Shepard and his crew to enter the room. The Geth turned around only to be struck by one of the Husks. This blow disabled it. Shepard and the squad moved in and opened fire on the group of Husks. The Reaper core closed shut.
"I can destroy the core, but I need you three to cover me until it opens again," Shepard said to her squadmates as he pulled out the Cain.
"You can count on us, Shepard," Tali said as she and Mordin took their positions.
Shepard drew the large nuke launcher and aimed the large yellow weapon at the hole. Husks started appearing all over the area. The squad fired at any approaching Husk. The shutters over the core squealed to life. Shepard looked up and saw them open.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she yelled as he pulled the weapon's trigger. The weapon launched a large slug into the core. It exploded with a shockwave knocking them down. "Core's gone,"
"Wait, Shepard!" Mordin said to her as the team got up. He looked at the disabled Geth. "Intact Geth! Unprecedented discovery. We should take it with us!"
"Leave it here," Tali urged him. "You know what they can do. If it gets into the Normandy's systems..."
More Husks entered the area.
"Tali, you said it yourself, that no one's ever found one intact before," Shepard pointed out. "Besides we can work on more firewalls,"
"That's true, but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk, Shepard."
"We don't have time to argue," Shepard said. "Come on!"
The minotaur grabbed the Geth and hauled it up onto her shoulders before legging it out of the dying Reaper with the others following. The Normandy picked up on what was going on and moved into a position to pick up the team. As more explosions rocked the machine, gravity went forcing the team to use the maglocks on their boots. Getting close to the ship, Shepard threw the Geth towards the Normandy before turning and firing at the Husks closing in on her team.
As Mordin and Tali got close Zenna grabbed the nearest one.
"Wait what…" Tali began but her protest was ignored as the minotaur threw her towards the open airlock. "Shepard!" she yelled in annoyance.
Mordin said nothing when he was thrown. Instead, he just kept his eye on the target as he flew through the atmosphere towards the ship making small adjustments as he approached the Normandy. Zenna took a running jump and landed behind the other two in the airlock before it closed.
"Warn me when you are going to do something like that," Tali said as he hit the minotaur's armour.
"Sorry," Zenna shrugged.