This was it, this was when months of agony would either end or would have to continue for an eternity. Gideon sat before me, wired to hell and back as the scientist come doctor assessed whether their adjustments to the nanobots were enough to mask him from Nyryntha's scanners, assuming she had scanners inside her to distinguish friend from foe. Bless him, Gideon grit through it, knuckles white on the chair arms. Was it painful, or was it just annoying? My mandibles fluttered, afraid for either. Dell trusted me to keep him safe, but from all the other opportunities we had, now we threw Gideon into the fire for this to succeed. The RPAT team said they extracted a nanobot to test whether someone more experienced could have them in their system and still stay hidden. They removed it hours later after the damn thing tried to clot his heart. The biometrics had memorised Gideon and making new ones was out of the question, we didn't have time or resources to recreate Reaper tech. Gideon was our only hope. A nurse approached him, but those damn protective instincts that had gripped Dell afflicted me too. The asari shuffled as she dropped something on the table by Suquine and scurried away from my glower. Gideon tensed, every muscle rigid. Kala lifted her head, the AI forever at his side. Suquine smiled as he straightened.
"Let's see if the Reapers can keep track of you now," he said with a light chuckle, unhooking the various wires along Gideon's arms. "We've neutralised the threat of them spying on us and we've got a procedure to remove those nanobots after the mission. We've reprogrammed the nanobots with the IFF we took from the Normandy AI, so it'll hide you from Reaper signals until you get caught. Every passing scan will see you as a husk while inside the Reaper. However, this doesn't mean husks or visual checks won't see you as a threat,"
"So he's good to go?" I asked, heart in my throat. The drell nodded. A slow breath escaped, a mixture of feelings ripping me apart; anxious should Gideon get hurt but bubbling with hope that we could save Dell. With reluctance, I stood, forcing my mind to the mission. "Alright. Mission is go. Shaik, let's move," My eyes focused on the door, away from the thin boy and FENRIS scrambling after me. Stay focused on the mission, too many lives depended on me staying focused. Spirits, how did Dell do it? …wait, she didn't. Well, not until Drutus' training mission. My eyes squeezed shut as Releeva pushed herself straight, waiting for my answer. "We're go, Rally everyone," The asari grinned.
"Understood, Captain," she said, excitement running through her grin. "Attention all crew, attention all crew," she hailed through her ear piece. Her voice rang through the halls. "Renaissance is go, I repeat, Renaissance is go," a hum vibrated through the air, the sound of thousands of people rallying into position. Releeva focused on me, her earlier grin now gone as the Rear Admiral settled in. "Get into position and get your pilot ready,"
"He's standing by and the ships are ready to go," I said, glancing down to Gideon, jaw muscles taut and a metal on metal 'tap tap' from Kala dancing by Gideon's feet. Who was more nervous; the AI or me? "Run through the plan one more time," for my heart's sake. Gideon sucked in a breath, releasing his jaw.
"When Nyryntha enters the system, wait and see if she lands planetside. If she doesn't, we penetrate in space and pray nothing bad happens to my suit. Lani will fly me and eject me inside her and then track down the memory drive," he said, concentrating as he recalled the plan for the millionth time. "It should be near the core but we can't be sure. We have basic maps on the interior of Nyryntha including a path to the core but nothing concrete. I need to stick to the shadows, using jump jets and grappling systems. Nyryntha will know I'm there if the husks catch me and once I pull the memory drive out. If she has cameras then I need to avoid them. I then need to survive until I can escape,"
"And remember, you'll be on your own. Just be careful. If it gets too hot, we'll go to plan B," I stressed, holding my mandibles still. "I'll be too busy with the Starquake to help you beyond keeping Nyryntha's attention. Shepard is here, although he's keeping the Normandy out of the system until we need help. He said he'll cover the flank if Nyryntha looks ready to flee," Gideon's chest tightened, holding in a sigh.
"I'll be careful. Mum depends on this," he said, rolling his shoulders with downcast eyes.
The elevator door opened, filled to the brim with people. My mandibles pinned before pulling Gid in after me, keeping him against the door while pressing against the crush behind me. Blessedly, no one else tried to get into the elevator before we reached the frigate deck. Once those doors opened, my hands grabbed Gideon and shoved him forward to save him from the stampede behind me. With all the frigate docks full, the deck wasn't safe from being crushed either, so my tall frame highlighted the smaller human beside me. While he was overtaking Dell in height, he still needed to grow for the krogan stamping around to notice him. My hand grabbed the back of Gideon's top, holding him back as a transporter rushed past him before pushing him onwards towards the Starquake. Much to the boy's frustrations, we had to keep as much of the plan secret as possible. We couldn't underestimate our enemies, not anymore. Once all the ships were ready and the deck emptied apart from the normal staff, then Julian would go down onto the planet in a shuttle, delving into a ruin to find a replica of the memory drive the R&D department threw together. That alone would could trigger warning flags to Nyryntha we knew what we were doing. The memory drive Mat'al recovered from a dead Reaper the RPAT and R&D Departments took. What they didn't know was Kala and EDI had already torn into the drive to see what they could find. It was in good condition from what they told me. They had a week to look at it before Sassy told the RPAT team what they had. That week was enough to study the data structure and any additional information they could. What they found well… they hadn't parted with that yet. They still fought with it. If they AIs were taking this long, they could sit and compute it.
Back inside the Starquake my anxiety only worsened. We sat a short jump away from Tuchanka, out of a normal system scan range to stop Nyryntha was suspecting a trap. Although the energy of the crew lifted my lips. Gideon glanced up as I nudged him towards the elevator, watching him trudge down the hall for a moment to catch myself. He'd be fine. Mat'al and Marruns had put him through his paces for the past 3 weeks at least. While not long enough, it was all we had. When he vanished from sight, my attention turned to the bridge. Bustle and noise, the scattering of people sprinting across from system to system. The cockpit was full, every chair taken and even spares bolted in place. We needed as many eyes as possible, especially with Lanster in a fighter to launch Gideon. My eyes skimmed the crew log, noting Mat'al had returned from the final briefing. He'd fill me in once Gideon is loaded and ready. In the meantime my attention had to stay here. All but the Corvus was ready for deployment, and even then it was just final engine checks that remained.
"Are we ready?" I asked.
"Yes sir," Una called back. A finger dropped to a screen below me, signalling the Starquake was ready. 5 minutes later, all frigates signalled 'Ready'. We had to wait another 10 minutes, but soon, Julian and a small strike team entered the deck. Julian pulled his helmet over his head, masking his rigid expression as he approached the shuttle deck, a raised deck near the stern of the Constellation about 5 floors higher than the frigate deck. My mandibles pinned, spotting a yellow crested krogan. So, Releeva was right, they pulled Raisha from the Citadel. Why they needed her, of all things, was beyond me. 'A waste of potential', she said. Well, the crew and I didn't take too kindly to it. Releeva kept the krogan away from the Starquake when she heard the threats of 'blasting her brains out'. The shuttle lifted off the ground, spinning to leave through the stern.
"Attention all crew, Shaik is on the go, I repeat, Shaik is on the go," I called. Spirits, let the mission succeed. "Pigmy Maw, get ready for deployment,"
"Oh that's going to go down well," Phentos chuckled. A grin flitted across my lips. A 'tap tap' sounded behind me, Kala joining us in the Control Ring. The sensors detected the shuttle hit FTL to reach Tuchanka. "I'll head to the CIC and get the rest of the combat team ready. The ground forces are ready and standing by,"
"Good. Get the Starquake Combat systems warmed up. And pray Nyryntha turns up," I said. Phentos saluted, marching towards the doors at the stern of the bridge. "How's Gideon?"
"Nervous, his heart rate hasn't settled for the past hour," Kala said. "I've just synced with the new helmet. All systems are ready. Commander Delern will be up shortly once he makes sure Gideon is with Lieutenant Commander Taynus,"
"Have you uploaded all the data he needs?" I asked, my eyes trailed over the command console, waiting for new orders. New orders estimated in 10 minutes once the shuttle was planetside.
"He has all the plans of Nyryntha we have. He knows to expect changes," Kala said, sitting by the chair. "Should I… stream data to the Starquake?"
"Not yet, wait until Gideon gets inside. I don't need to see his biometrics right when things get hairy," I muttered, pacing before the chair.
"I can mask the biometrics if that makes you more comfortable," Kala offered. My shoulders sagged.
"Thank you," I heaved, eyes on the multiple screens around me. The door behind me parted, a fast paced match echoing.
"He's in and ready," Mat'al's voice called.
"Good. We're ready here, just waiting for the go to deploy," I said. Mat'al stopped beside me. My eyes trailed over a security cam feed. Indira was finishing suiting everyone up. She'd be up and in the CIC soon. "Are you staying here or going into the CIC?"
"I'll head to the CIC, with as many ships as we have, we need every hand we can get," Mat'al said, folding his arms across his chest. His lips pressed tight together. "The ground crew got those giant hookshots ready. They're heavy but we're using a mixture of mass effect fields and sheer power the propel them. The ground-side cannons are easier, but wheel forgive, the ground wasn't as stable as we would like. We've piled hard foundations in to keep them from moving," he said.
"Is everyone ready?" I asked.
"We have an army down there ready to deal with husks. The fighters will move in once Nyryntha is planetside to stop her fleeing. The cruisers will only come down if they and the frigates can't handle her," Mat'al said. "Assuming she shows,"
"She will. She has to," I said,
"Shaik to Fleet, we're groundside," Julian's voice called through the second frequency. A talon tapped the frequency window, 4 frequencies opened. The first was for the Constellation fleet, the second for Julian, the third connected to the groundside team and the fourth was a connection to Shepard. He said he would get some friends. How many, we didn't know. He still had Dell's body… spirits don't let the Normandy get hit.
"All frigates, move into position," Releeva's voice called through the first frequency. My chest tightened.
"Prepare for departure. Shaik is planetside," I called through the intercom.
A shrill rang in the bridge, the engines rumbling. The larger frigates slid free, escaping the Constellation and preparing for FTL. Voices rang from the groundside team, meandering through the heat towards ruins delving deep beneath the broken earth. Raisha's voice sent chills down my spine, securing my mandibles to my face. Julian knew nothing of the ground based forces, knew nothing of the massive space battle in case the worse came to worse. The minutes ticked by, the chatter light. Julian knew this was the mission that would secure Dell, he knew that much. The RPAT team wanted to put him in stasis for a while, to stop him from losing, but Julian refused. He still managed the fleet, but every time we crossed paths, his eyes burned me. It was more than enough motivation.
Then the feed came through, Julian found the fake memory drive, 'planted' by our friends in the salarians. My heart thundered. The long wait began. Palalrian would recognise the tech, would cross wires to figure out our plan. When a memory drive, they knew we could learn too much from having access to such sensitive equipment. Come and get us, Nyryntha. Come on… The minutes ticked by, the tension in the air electric. Kala shuffled, reading Gideon's biometrics. He was just as nervous, just as eager to get going. At 10 minutes, our sensors lit up. Something big just dropped out of FTL around Tuchanka. Was this her? The confirmation would take a minute, but all drive cores buzzed. Those in the cockpit got the first results.
"Reaper inbound!" Una called from the cockpit. My heart settled, a veil dragging the nerves from me.
"Alright people, warm up the cannons. Lanster, get the fighter ready for launch. Renaissance is go!" I called. We couldn't jump now though. If she was going planetside, we had to wait. If we left now, she'd realise it was a trap and flee before we got her anywhere near the cannons to disable and distract her. My eyes pinned to the radio for the groundside team, waiting for their hail. The whole ship quivered, ready to leap into FTL.
"Incoming!" the groundside team called. "She's bombing from space!" My teeth grit. Great, orbital strikes.
"Move into Space Combat, we're jumping in! Get Shepard on standby!" I snapped. Mat'al backtracked, escaping to enter the CIC. Mari hailed Shepard on the fourth frequency. He was ready and standing by. The Starquake leapt forward, hitting FTL with the rest of the frigates. The cruisers and Constellation followed seconds later. We fell from FTL, the scene before me chilling my skin. The Reaper orbited over the designated site. Did she see the cannons, the hooks? We used the same masking tech that used during the Elcor Diplomat kill. Only on a more massive scale. Thankfully for us, Tuchanka had more than enough heat and radiation to give us the power we needed. "Weapons loose!"
The main cannon fired, the secondary cannons creating a stream of light towards the Reaper. Nyryntha turned, her orbital strikes disturbed to regard the incoming threat. The frigates moved in, engines maxed, weapons firing. The cruisers covered us from behind, the Constellation launching fighters by the thousands. Seconds passed and streaks of light blinded the cameras above. Only the combat systems cut down on the noise. Nyryntha raised a leg, slow and lagging. We knew what it was and swerved. A brilliant streak of red fired, fighters erupted into flames as they failed to see the incoming danger. We knew our shields wouldn't stop that thing, the Constellation would have to FTL in and out to deploy and collect fighters. It was too slow and lumbering to manoeuvre with. With the battlefield now set, the fighter's time to shine arrived. Lanster zipped away, looking to get to safety while we waited to push Nyryntha back to the planet. But she would not hang around. She knew now. Nyryntha thrust straight towards us, gaining speed for the jump. My heart leapt to my throat. No, this was our only hope. Our only chance!
"Shepard!" I screamed into the fourth frequency. We couldn't let her get away! He didn't respond, not with words anyway. 5 horrific seconds later, the Normandy jumped into the system. Along with an entire fleet.
"Stop that Reaper at all costs!" Imperious' voice cackled over the radio. The turian dreadnaught fired a barrage of weapons, the turian fleet hailing hell towards the Reaper. Nyryntha curled up, her legs taking the brunt of the assault before curling away from the Destiny Ascension's shell, her chance of FTL gone. The asari fleet swerved, driving her back around to face the planet. The area filled with ships, nothing but ships and fighters. A batarian cruiser's shell smashed into the lower part of a leg. The turian dreadnaught followed up and sheered the rest of it off. One cannon down, spirits knows how many left.
The Starquake joined the other frigates in firing bug bites against the Reaper, forcing her closer to the planet. Even a Reaper couldn't hold long against this kind of firepower. 4 dreadnaughts, 40 cruisers, 138 frigates and countless fighters. Sovereign fell to less. The Normandy swooped down, guiding Lanster's fighter towards the Reaper. The threat of her fleeing decreased, but we could never be too sure. A huge rupture opened on Nyryntha, on her port side about a third up the main body. My heart fluttered, the ship barrelling to avoid another Reaper shell. This far from the fighter, I couldn't see Gideon eject, but Lanster gave the signal on the text system Gideon's departure. We wouldn't know if it was a success without Kala and/or Gideon. Kala focused, my thumb pushing an omni-chip into the computer console beside me. She focused on Gideon first before syncing with the systems, it would be a few minutes before Gideon would call in. If he called in… no, no spirits he would. If he didn't Dell would kill me. Again. Kala's light flashed, her systems syncing with the Starquake to open a new set of screens and readings to an already overwhelming number of screens. Kala kept to her word though, no biometrics from Gideon.
"Mission Renaissance phase 2 is go," Gideon's voice said, a faint tremor in his tone. A heavy breath escaped. There would be no more communication with him apart from with Kala, and even then it would be restricted. She couldn't bombard him, not when he had to focus. Now it was my job to make sure Nyryntha didn't pull anything.
With a hull breach, Nyryntha knew her armour wouldn't be enough to survive. But she was intelligent enough to know we weren't outright destroying her. She must think we were after something. Either that or we had gone into 'storm trooper' territory, as Dell called it. She raised her legs, wanting to thin our numbers enough to escape. The radio was alive with hails and warnings, the combat systems working overtime to avoid friendly fire in the sea of shells and light. A blazing light flew past as the Starquake swung around behind Nyryntha, landing a hit near the laser at the base of the body. The air inside the ship vibrated, her rumble of complaint shaking us even in space. The mass of ships inched her closer and closer to Tuchanka, soon she would have to make the choice of either punching through us again, risk burning up in the atmosphere to lose us or land and try her chances under gravity where the dreadnaughts would struggle to hit her. A turian cruiser moved too far to the left and ended up ripped in 3 pieces after a well-placed laser. My teeth grit, but Imperious rallied his soldiers and they regrouped and swarmed the Reaper once more.
The callsigns hailed from Imperious, a handful of Spectres, grateful solders from the Salarian Union, Dell's batarian contact – who she mentioned from time to time with a smirk – and his team, a team of commandos from Liara, the Council backing us up with the Ascension. And I knew some of the independent ships floating around were from either Shepard's friends or Dell's contacts. A hanar frigate swerved past, drell voices calling through the din. My heart warmed. With so many people fighting, we had a chance. Everything was in Gideon's hands. He wouldn't fail, after pushing for so long to get on the ground missions, he would succeed. He wouldn't accept less.
Nyryntha decided. Her legs pointed down towards the planet, diving through the atmosphere as the ionised through. Kala jerked, torn from Gideon's feed. She spun in a circle, beeps of distress echoing around the bridge. Something about extreme high temperatures. My talons dug into the head of the captain's chair as the Starquake lined up for re-entry. The other frigates and fighters followed, the cruisers and dreadnaughts remained in space for now. At least until we chained her down. The ground team rallied, watching the flaming streak descending through the sky. With a leg down, Nyryntha would be off balance, something that would swing in our favour. As the flames eased, Kala's re-connected. Her panicked beeps settled, sagging as she sat down. Gideon wasn't in danger now, it didn't get too hot. My heart settled. At least on the planet, we could control her a little better and she wouldn't get away, not with the army we mustered. Nyryntha landed hard, shuddering on the ground as she fought to balance with only 4 legs. The air rattled with her rage as she assessed the flat wasteland with the towering rocks on the south and west sides.
Kala leapt, an initial warning from Gideon's feed; a potential new husk. She didn't have details other than a brief look at the creature, but Gideon's heart rate rocketed as a result. My teeth grit. Now we had an even bigger problem to deal with. An unknown husk and he was alone. He had the Daemon but he didn't have the strength to hold it one handed and rest it over his other arm. And if he fired it, Nyryntha would know he was there in a heartbeat. We had to distract Nyryntha! Cue the ground team.
A cannon shell blasted from atop a pillar, smashing into Nyryntha. The Reaper roared, wincing as the high pitched squeal shattered the air. Another came from behind, shunting her forward, her legs on the right splayed out, catching herself from falling. The fighters continued the bug bites, desperate to lure the husks out and away from Gideon. The ground army mobilised, bullets raining from all sides. Nyryntha rumbled, small doors opening near the base of her body. A river of Hunters scrambled free, Abominations, Wraiths, Praetorians, Scions and Husks tumbled onto the ground, rushing out in all directions. The bullets refocused on the stream of husks. Sniper teams focused on the Wraiths, spaced in 15 teams around the vast area. Those on the north and east side hid on stealth shuttles that shifted from time to time, to keep the Reaper away from the vulnerable team. Then the new husk showed itself, it didn't dare leave the Reaper though, much to our disappointment. A ripple in the air blasted out, striking one of the ground cannons. It whined, an eruption on flame emanating from the base. The shields that surrounded it shattered a second before as the bullet smashed straight through it.
"We've got a sniper husk!" a turian barked. "And it hits like a fucking krogan!"
"Where are they?" An asari demanded.
"That one came from a gap in the armour! The damn Reaper as arrow slits for its snipers!" a batarian barked.
"Snipers, refocus on those husks! Fire the chains! We have to shake those husks around a little!" Releeva ordered.
They fired the first chain, the massive structure hiding behind an invisibility veil. The heavy metal claw laced with the nanobot chemicals that Saboteurs hated. The claw punched straight through the Reaper's armour, the weight and force too much. Nyryntha roared, the Starquake quivering from the vibrations. She spun to face the machine, a laser warmed up. Another hook slammed into her back, shoving her forward and throwing her beam off course. It almost hit another ground-based cannon and the sniper shuttles scrambled. The two chains tugged on the Reaper, hurling her around. She couldn't fire her lasers, too busy ensuring she didn't fall. If that happened, it was game over. A third chain missed, but the resulting slam into the ground upheaved a group of Hunters and Wraiths. As that chain withdrew, the Reaper anchored her feet in.
"SPAWN!" her furious voice thundered, husks on the ground tumbling from the force of her cry. My heart stopped.
"Phase 3! We're in Phase 3!" Gideon screeched, the sound of his thundering feet evident in the background.
Renaissance is in Phase 3. Admiral, get to ground zero! I repeat, move to ground zero!" Releeva cried.
"What the hell is going on?" Julian snapped, but his tracker blinked as they ran back to the shuttle.
"Gideon is in the Reaper! He has the memory drive!" she answered, refocusing on keeping the ground crew alive.
Now the worst part of the mission. We had ground teams who could storm the Reaper if Gideon needed help, but he was now at his most vulnerable. Nyryntha knew he was there, Kala would have activated the nanobot disabler the RPAT team installed to stop those nanobots doing any damage to Gideon. The main cannon roared under my feet as the shell smashed into the crown. Another hook crashed into the top of a leg on the left, threatening to rip it off. A flurry of husks clambered back up into the Reaper to deal with Gideon. While the snipers focused on them to thin their numbers, the Hunters pressed deep inside. My hands clenched as we swerved around the Reaper. The third hook was ready for a second fire once another coating of anti-Reaper chemical drenched it. Explosions rocked the battlefield as husks flew in the air and not always in one piece. They had broken out the mortars now. Nyryntha screeched as the third hook hit, staggering backwards. The fighters pressed close, but the snipers and Nyryntha fired off a flurry to drive them off. A cruiser shell smashed into the ground, a massive crater a new obstacle for Nyryntha. The corpses of husks showered over the remaining husks.
Kala leapt her feet, light still flashing as she focused on controlling Gideon's suit. A frown creased my plates, looking up to the sensors. The site of the third hook revealed the mech's unease. A purple suited boy with a metal block clung to his chest scrambled away from the hole, looking for somewhere to stand. My heart fluttered. He was out. He was out! A drell called over the radio, informing the snipers just as a Hunter crawling after Gid erupted and tumbled to the ground. The overall fighter fire stopped, focusing on the husks to ensure a stray bullet didn't hit Gid. And then the cannon fire had to watch what they were doing too. My knuckles turned white. They couldn't control her. She was too wild on her feet. The fighters couldn't get close! The ground team moved. A 5th chain launched through the air, aiming high to crash into the top of the Reaper. Nyryntha roared, swaying as the chain tightened, forcing the Reaper back. The 4th chain on her leg tightened, stopping any hop of recovering her balance. A shaken leg stepped into the crater the cruiser left behind. The 2km monster fell backwards, a slow motion movie as my heart froze, eyes on Gideon as he swayed for balance on the tumbling Reaper. Just off the ground, his jump jets launched him up, softening the blow as Nyryntha crashed into the ground.
"I'm fine!" he called after a hail to him. Husks u-turned, clambering up the Reaper's sides to reach him. The Husks lost interest in the ground team, they couldn't let us get that memory drive. "There's too much shit here! I'm going on foot! Keep her and the husks distracted!"
No, was my first thought. Husks surrounded him and the snipers inside the body could nail him if he ran over one of the sniper slots. The ground team did what they could, but there were thousands of husks and the bodies piled up. Then a blink on the war map caught my attention. Julian's shuttle swooped over the battlefield, the crew listening to the ongoing war. The shuttle door opened, Julian leaning out as a vanilla coloured salarian grabbed hold of him. My heart seized as the shuttle dived. Gideon didn't even have time to turn around before Julian grabbed him and plucked him off the ground. Seconds later, a Hunter launched after them, but the shuttle was too high and fast for the husk to chase. My eyes closed, relief flooding me.
"Phase 3 complete. Assigned frigates, return to the fleet positions," I said, getting the nod from Kala.
Gid was clear, safe and away from the battlefield, he succeeded. My head shook, taking one last look at Nyryntha as the Starquake and the non-Constellation fleet frigates returned to space, leaving the frigates to clean up and drop more ground crews to deal with what remained. We returned to our assigned after mission positions before Lanster's fighter returned, Gideon in tow. With my fears eased, the shutdown checklist for the weapon's systems. Once shut down, the Starquake docked inside the Constellation, waiting for the Normandy to come in and drop off Gideon. When the frigate slipped it, it didn't dock, but hovered inside Orion dock to let the airlock open and Gideon and Laster to hop over the short hop to the dockside. Shepard didn't trust the interior cannons to punch a hole in him, so once ready, the ship pulled away and slid back into the stars. Gid marched towards me, a tired grin on his face. He flopped into my bear hug.
"Spirits give me strength, I've just lost 10 years because of this mission," I rumbled. Gideon managed a weak laugh. My head twisted to look over my shoulder, Mat'al marching down the Starquake's docking ramp. "Is this the hard bit of the mission done?" I asked.
"I dunno," Gideon sighed, rubbing an eye.
"What we do know," Mat'al called, stopping beside us. "Is he needs to get these nanobots out of his system. Now," he stressed, grabbing Gideon by his armour and dragging him towards the elevators.
Gideon wailed, but exhaustion took him and couldn't resist the salarian's grab. I was a step behind, keeping up with ease as Kala trotted ahead to Gideon's side. We didn't know when Julian would arrive, but we needed Gid seen to before he came storming in and demanding answers. Back in the RPAT department, Suquine was waiting with a team. Gideon shuffled, but Mat'al pushed him forward until the doctors led him into a room. Gideon threw a look over his shoulder, eyes wide before the doors closed. My mandibles sagged. He'll be fine, he was in safe hands. Mat'al and I shared a look. Mat'al nodded his head towards the door. We walked back into the quiet hall.
"I am relieved we have the AI," Mat'al sighed. "Watching her inputs into Gideon's suit… he needs many more months of training before he's ready for a mission like this without the AI helping him,"
"You trained him well though, and Gid and Kala know each other well enough to back each other up," I said. Mat'al snorted, but it wasn't sour or bitter.
"Wheel forgive, the sooner Dell gets back the happier I'll be. The boy is a pain in the ass to chase after," he grumbled. Laughter bubbled free as we returned to frigate deck. My hearing heard him approach before Mat'al or I spotted him. Julian scowled at us, pausing beside us while the rest of his team continued on. Raisha paused, eyes narrowing as our eyes met. My biotics flared, hers flared a moment later.
"Move, Jorgal!" Julian snapped. "Before I throw you back in a Citadel prison," Raisha blinked once, sharing one more heated glare, before turning away and marching towards the elevator. Julian snorted. "So, you mutinied against her," My chin rose a notch. Julian dragged a breath in, settling his shoulders. "No bloody wonder. When this damn war is over, she's kicked out,"
"Giving you problems?" I asked.
"Did she always question Delly's every decision?" he asked. Mat'al and I nodded. "How the fuck did she put up with it?"
"She was too afraid of putting me as an XO," Mat'al chuckled.
"You'd work her ass off," I scolded.
"That's a bad thing?" Mat'al asked. Julian snorted.
"Where are we in terms of bring Delly back?" Julian asked.
"Kala is working with a Memory Drive Mat'al found on a dead Reaper. It's in the hands of your RPAT team just now but we gave Kala early access. She's working with the coding and looking on how to strip down and arrange Dell's memories," I said.
"Preliminary results shows the drive has some of the process commands. Between them, what we already have and what the RPAT team can throw together, well, we're hoping to transfer the memories within a month. Dell's new body is almost ready," Mat'al added. Julian's lungs emptied.
"Good. Let me know when you're going to do it. I… need to see it," He scrubbed his face, dirt from his gloves smearing across his face.
"We will. Go take it easy. We need to get the ground base set up. We'll have Gideon shuttled down when he's finished. Shepard is keeping Dell on the Normandy and going to be coasting around for a little bit. You'll be joining him?" I asked Mat'al. He nodded.
"Absolutely… once I get a copy of the safe code from Gideon," he said, eyes on the elevator.
"Then I'll see you soon. I need to get the Starquake down on Tuchanka before the Combat team complain they didn't get to see any ground action," I grinned, waving a hand before heading towards the Starquake. Mat'al remained on deck, Julian watching my progress as I disappeared inside the ship.
"…and what did you do with the recliner setting! Do you have any idea how hard it was to jam that thing at 4.5? This damn thing doesn't do halves!" Lanster's wails hailed from the cockpit. Laughter erupted from me. "Oh fuck you, Val!" he snapped, watching me enter the bridge. My wide smirk only infuriated him further.
"You can fix you chair when you park us down on Tuchanka," I said. "We got to get going, we need to clean up and batten down the hatches. Spirits knows how long we'll be here for,"
"Aye, aye," Lanster grumbled, landing with a thud on the chair. "And you've moved the-"
"Lanster," I called, throwing my best stern parent tone. Lanster rumbled, but the engines hummed. My fingers itched, demanding to drum on the arms of the captain chair.
The radio chatter on all the frequencies but the ground one filtered away, the backup fleet breaking off to return to their normal duties or hit the nearest dry dock. The cruisers returned to the Constellation, either as protection or for repairs themselves. As for the other frigates, they burned through the atmosphere if they weren't already planetside, to reach the temporary frigate dock. Most of the frigates were here, although a few were back at the Constellation still. Lanster worked with what air traffic control they had around the area to ease us down to the ground, docking clamps snapping over the wings. My mandibles pinned, standing. Those unnecessary for the ship shadowed me, filling the elevator. In the cargo hold, we grabbed weapons before leaving through the cargo door. The guns clicked around me as we joined the stream from the other frigates, marching towards our designated locations. Snipers drifted towards the crags, the front line warriors to the barriers and everyone else found some nice middle ground, raised mounds over the heads of those watching the barriers from the husks. The Tempest popped free, eyes on those with the shotguns already blazing at the mountain of husks swarming us. A huge crash at the barrier blasted it back until a biotic filled the hole, stopping the influx of husks pouring in. The new husks, which many liked to call Reavers, hit like trucks. The snipers went to work, but they had little to play with. Their targets were tiny, not even dots in their scopes. It started a friendly competition if nothing else. My shoulders rolled back. Well, time to clear house.