Chapter 13

Liara was watching the small replica of Tasale system on her terminal, a blue dot was moving rapidly away from the planet Illium towards the system's mass relay. The dot was the Normandy, and the further away it was moving, the more Liara was questioning her decision to stay. She tried to snap herself out of it, and switched over to her regular work, but the thought still lingered in her mind.

"Hey Commander, heard about what happened on Illium. Did not go as planned?"

"That's an understatement, Joker." Shepard sighed, "She needs some time, I can only imagine how she felt back then."

Joker frowned, "I was in the last pod that was recovered Shepard, when I walked out and saw her, I couldn't bear to look at her face. She didn't say anything, but... I could see it in her eyes, how could I have walked out of that pod without you Commander?"

It looked like Joker wanted to add something else but Shepard quickly interrupted, "Joker, you did everything in your power to save the old Normandy, you gave the crew enough time to evacuate. And if we happened to be in a situation like that again, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I… Thank you Shepard." Joker smiled briefly, "Anyway, I doubt you are here for a heart to heart, Commander."

EDI's avatar lit up on the right of Joker, "It was obvious that the Commander came here to set our next destination, Jeff."

"Oh right! I forgot that you were still on board." Joker quipped.

John couldn't help but laugh at that, "Cut her some slack, Joker."

Joker just rolled his eyes and turned back to face the Normandy's console.

"We're going the Far Rim, to Haestrom."

Joker couldn't help but make a snarky comment, "Far Rim? Who are we picking up in that dump?

John smiled, "Tali."

There was a short pause before Joker spoke, "Oh..."

"That one backfired on you, didn't it?" John replied, suppressing the laughter as hard as he could.

"Sorry, Commander. Could you... uh... Could you not tell Tali that please?"

"I'll think about it Joker." John turned around and started walking out of the cockpit, enjoying every moment of his pilot's torment.

"Oh come on, Commander!" Joker whined.

John replied as he was walking away, "Only if you promise to behave yourself." there were some more comments from Joker but he was already too far away to hear them.

Shepard took the elevator down into the living quarters, he decided to check on both of his new recruits from Illium. He took a right from the elevator and into the life support room, Thane Krios was sitting at a table, looking through the window at the drive core of the SR2. John tried to make his presence known as he had no intention to get shot or stabbed by sneaking up on an assassin. He took a few steps with more force as he usually would, making them heard.

Thane responded, "Do you need something?"

John replied, "Just here to see how you are settling in."

Thane nodded, "Certainly, we haven't had a chance to talk since I joined."

Shepard walked up and sat at the table as well, he has never seen a drell in person before, the experience was interesting. John decided to start with the topic that has been bothering him since their first meeting, "When we met back on Illium, you said that you were dying."

There was a short pause before Thane responded, "Yes. I though you would want to know more. You don't have to worry about the rest of the crew. My illness is not communicable, even to other drell. It's called Kepral's Syndrome."

"Are you going to be alright till the end of our mission?" John replied.

"I should be fine for another eight to twelve months. The more time I spend in humid environments, the faster it progresses. I think it's safe to say that by the time my body is incapacitated we will be victorious." Thane paused again, "Or dead. Either way, I won't be a burden to you."

John wanted to know more, and possibly help, "What exactly is the problem?"

"My people are native to an arid world. Most of us now live on Kahje, the hanar home world. It's very humid and rains every day. Our lungs can't deal with the moisture. Over time the tissue loses its ability to absorb oxygen, it becomes harder to breathe. Eventually, we suffocate."

"Is it really such a problem? You don't have to live on Kahje or use breathers."

"Drell have a close relationship with the hanar, we rely on each other. The best we can do is keep our homes very dry inside."

"Is there really nothing your people can do about it?" Shepard asked.

"The hanar have funded a genetic engineering program. They should be able to adapt us. The project has only been running for a few years, I don't believe my body will still draw breath by the time it bears fruit."

"Is there anything we can do here? Normandy has a state of the art medical bay."

Thane shook his head, "No thank you. It's been attended to. If the finest medical minds in the hanar illuminated primacy can't solve the problem, I doubt your ship's medic could. Thank you for your concern, trust me, this won't affect my performance."

John decided not to push his luck and leave Thane alone to continue adapting. He bid the drell farewell and exited the room. Talking to Thane was interesting, however Shepard could still feel the tension, the man was not used to working in a team. He just hoped that it wouldn't become a problem later on. Shepard took a right turn and on to the observation deck, Samara the Justicar was situated here. As the doors opened Shepard saw Samara sitting on the floor, observing the space beyond the window, she was meditating.

"Shepard." Samara spoke, acknowledging his presence. Her biotics flared and then calmed down, perhaps indicating interruption from her meditation.

John walked up and sat down near Samara, he was curious about her. Before he met Samara he never even knew about the justicars before. John suddenly realized that Samara was a matriarch herself, he was curious how different she was from Aethyta and Benezia, "How are you Samara?"

"I've spent much of the last four hundred years on my own. It is nice to have a colleague to chat with." she smiled, her voice was calm, even tranquil, yet still very powerful, "I may be rusty at it, however. If you are patient, I would love to talk."

John thought for a second before asking, "What do you think of Cerberus?"

"I've heard rumors, but learned long ago to form my own impressions. There is too much room for interpretation in the opinions of others." she replied.

John raised an eyebrow, "Why were you willing to work for Cerberus when you didn't have first-hand knowledge?"

Samara smiled again, "I work for you Shepard. Our methods may be different, but our goals are not."

"I would like to hear more about the criminal you were chasing on Nos Astra."

Samara's faint smile disappeared, she lowered her gaze for a moment before facing Shepard again, "I hope you will understand if I wish to avoid this topic. It is deeply tied to my code and beliefs."

Shepard nodded, it was clear that the matter was personal to her. He changed the subject, "How much do you know about our mission?"

"I know that I've sworn an oath to follow you, and that you seek to destroy the collectors. That is enough for me." Samara replied.

"You don't want to know why the collectors need to be fought?" John asked curiously.

"When you live by a code, it compels you to harsh action, you learn the dangers of curiosity. If I must kill a man because he has done wrong, do I really wish to know that he is a devoted father?"

"You have a point Samara." John replied and stood up, "It's been nice talking to you."

"It has been a pleasure, Commander." Samara replied, her biotics flared again, indicating her return to the meditation.

Yet again John gained new perspective on the asari people. He might not have agreed with Samara's choice to live by the code that forces her to kill, but he could not deny that her methods were effective. John left the observation deck and headed for the elevator.

"Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere is these ruins. 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, I assume you do not want to know what will happen once your shields are gone." EDI spoke through the comm.

"I think I'd rather not know the details, thanks EDI." Shepard responded, stepping out of the shuttle.

"I wonder what Tali is doing here so far from the flotilla." said Garrus stepping down next to Shepard.

"Perhaps it has something to do with this abnormal environmental hazard. We could ask your friend, once we reach her." said Samara, steeping out of the shuttle and closing the hatch behind her.

John nodded, "Let's not waste any time then, this is geth space after all, they don't take kindly to intruders."

The team moved quickly from cover to cover, avoiding direct sunlight as much as possible. Soon the team reached a building, the design was old but the pattern looked familiar. Much to Shepard's surprise the doors were still operational. Inside were several dead quarians and destroyed geth units. Multiple bullet holes in the walls indicated a firefight. John looked around and found a recording station with a pending message, he activated it. It was the last message recorded by one of the deceased quarians, it spoke of geth ambush, it pleaded to find Tali'Zorah and the data and that it was all that mattered now.

Garrus looked over the bullet marks and then inspected the quarian soldiers, "It looks like they were retreating deeper into these ruins, the geth pinned them down, they were holding this position till the last soldier."

Shepard walked over to the console to the far left and activated the gate control, allowing passage through the building, "Let's keep moving then."

The three quickly moved through the gate and into a large courtyard area, a familiar hum filled the air.

"Geth drop ship, incoming!" Garrus yelled and headed for cover, Shepard and Samara followed.

John ducked behind a large stone pillar next to Garrus, Samara followed, "They were quick to pick up on our location."

"The Normandy has the stealth drive but the shuttle doesn't. I am a bit surprised it took them this long." Garrus replied, pulling out his rifle and arming it. He leaned over the cover and looked in the scope, "There are twelve of them total, they are moving slowly, don't know our location yet."

"Your orders Shepard?" Samara asked, arming her assault rifle.

"Samara and I will make a push down the middle, give us some cover Garrus." Shepard loaded a shell in his shotgun and prepared to jump out of cover.

"Go!" Shepard jumped out of cover, Samara followed, they ran towards the approaching geth, as soon as they were within distance, Shepard charged the leading geth unit. The impact of Shepard's biotic charge sent the leading unit and the two nearby geth flying in different directions, two of them his obstacles and stopped moving, the remaining one tried to get up but was met with a shotgun blast. Shepard quickly got into cover and out of the sun as his shields started to overheat. The surprise attack was over, the geth regrouped and now tried to flank the squad, but their efforts were met with heavy resistance from sniper fire. Samara caught up to Shepard and the two launched multiple biotic blasts against the geth, followed by shotgun and rifle fire. The last remaining unit tried to retreat but was met by a sniper bullet, shattering his head into pieces and synthetic liquid.

Garrus caught up to Shepard and Samara, and the squad advanced further into the ruins, they entered another building, "Shepard, I hear gunfire." Samara spoke. John nodded and the squad quickly rushed forward towards the firefight. As they came around one of the many corners they spotted a few geth decimating a group of quarians, the team opened fire without hesitation. The geth were dead, but so were the quarians, as John approached their bodies he heard a radio call coming from one of the quarians, "Break-break-break. OP-1, this is squad leader Kal'Reegar, do you copy?" John kneeled down to pick up the communicator, "The geth sent a drop ship towards OP-2, Tali'Zorah's secure, but we need backup. We're bunkered up here. Can you send support?"

John picked up the comm. and spoke, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Can we provide assistance?"

The comm. responded, "Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta."

Shepard activated his omnitool and patched in the frequency, turned the communicator off and threw it away.

Kal'Reegar spoke, "We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us. They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data though the solar radiation."

"What's your current position?"

"We're bunkered down at a base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, then doubled back to hold the checkpoint. Getting Tali out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off you."

"Hold you position we'll hit their back ranks."

"Wait! Watch your ass. We've got a drop ship coming in!"

The squad quickly moved up to the exit from the building and saw a few quarian soldiers fighting geth in front of the entrance to another building. The geth drop ship flew by, dropping several bombs on the soldiers, and to make matters worse a nearby pillar fell down and blocked the entrance completely.

"Kal'Reegar, the drop ship just bombed your outpost, no survivors. The explosion brought down a stone pillar, the entrance is blocked."

"Damn it. There should be demolition charges in the nearby buildings. Use them to clear a path."

"We're on it, Shepard out."

The team left the building and entered a large open area, the blocked building was to their right and there were a few other smaller ones of the far left.

EDI spoke through the comm. "Shepard, I have scanned the area and located the demolition charges the quarian commander mentioned. I have updated your nav. points."

"Thank you, EDI."

"We've got company, Shepard." Garrus pointed at the buildings where the charges were. Several geth units left it and took cover, taking a defensive position.

"You're up Garrus, Samara and I will draw them out with biotics. Remember to stay in the shade."

The squad started slowly moving towards the buildings, the geth opened fire. Garrus took a good position for sniper fire, while Samara and Shepard kept moving forward.

"This should be close enough, Shepard." said Samara, with her biotics flaring.

"On my mark." Shepard's own biotics started to flare in preparation. "Now!" both Shepard and Samara stood up from cover. Samara send out biotic lift blasts, pulling the geth into the air, while Shepard launched a biotic shockwave knocking several geth out of cover. Unable to retaliate the geth units were decimated by gunfire.

The squad walked into the building, there were a lot of quarian equipment in it, some was damaged but most of it was intact. Shepard found a stand that had the charges on it, there was also a terminal nearby with a recorded message. He activated it, it was a record of Tali, "It's next to impossible to get accurate solar measurements. The radiation keeps burning out our equipment. This sun shouldn't be like this. It was stable a few hundred years ago. Stars don't die that quickly. We need a core sample to get the timeline on the rate of radiation increase, but our equipment keeps dying on us. Shepard once used a mining laser to clear some rubble back on Therum. Maybe I can do something similar with demolition charges." Tali's mention of Therum immediately brought back the memories of the first time Shepard and Liara met. He remembered them clearly as if it was yesterday, the feeling of nostalgia and the old Normandy quickly took over.

Garrus nudged Shepard on the shoulder, "Shepard snap out of it! This was an ambush, we've got geth incoming!"

Shepard shook his head, now was not the time for daydreaming. Several geth, including a geth Prime were approaching the building. The squad focused on regular geth units first so they could focus on the Prime afterwards. Geth Prime was a massive geth unit, heavily armored, armed to the teeth with missile launchers, machine guns and had strong shield generators. Garrus and Shepard switched to assault rifles, and the whole squad focused their fire on the Prime, bringing down its shields. The towering machine was not going to go down easy, however, it launched several missiles at Shepard's cover, tearing it to pieces and forcing John to an open fight. Without hesitation John charged the Prime, impacting on its upper torso and toppling it over, once down on the ground, Shepard switched to his shotgun again and shot the Prime point blank in its ocular, destroying it.

Samara walked up to Shepard, "Very impressive, Commander." Garrus soon followed, holding the demolition charges.

Being the tech expert among the three, Garrus rigged the charges on the pillar and prepared them for remote detonation. The three took cover and Garrus activated the charges with his omnitool. The explosion split the pillar and left enough of a gap to move through. Shepard and his team entered the building, inside were more corpses of quarians and mutilated geth units.

"These buildings are quarian. This colony predates the geth uprising." said Samara looking at the architecture.

Garrus walked around checking the soldiers for any signs of life, "We are deep into geth space. Let's hope the quarians got what they were looking for."

The door out was locked and the console to open it was destroyed, looks like Shepard and his squad were stuck. John took a look around and found another terminal with Tali's record on it, "Our ancestors walked these halls with uncovered heads. The sun must have been normal back then. So much space. Walls of stone... It's amazing. I wish my friends could see it. I wish Shepard was here"

Garrus walked up next to Shepard, "I guess she got her wish, Shepard."

"I don't think she wanted it to be under these circumstances." John turned around and looked at the dead quarian soldiers again.

"Hang on Shepard, there is an incoming transmission here." Garrus replied.

"Patch it through."

Tali's voice spoke in the comm. "Tali'Zorah to base camp. Come in, base camp. Hello? Is anyone there?"

John turned around and activated the comm. "Tali, it's Shepard."

Tali sounded surprised, "Shepard? I'm not complaining, but you show up at the strangest times! What are you doing in the middle of geth space?"

"I'll explain later. Are you alright? What's your status?" John replied.

"I'm fine for now. Kal'Reegar and what was left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I've got the data I needed, but there are 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?"

"Let me see... Yes I can do it. Here. Should be unlocked now. Be careful Shepard. And please, do what you can to keep Reegar alive."

The squad left the building and walked into a long hall with lots of pillars. It seemed like it used to be a building but now the wall on the left was gone and Haestrom's star was shining through, basking everything in its deadly radiation. Shepard and his team started to move quickly from cover to cover, avoiding the sunlight whenever possible. When they were about half way to the next building's door, several geth Primes appeared from around the columns and opened fire on the squad. To make matters worse, several geth drones flew in and started advancing on the squad's position.

"We are compromised here, split up and draw their fire to spread them out." said Shepard and quickly tumbled to the right, several drones and a Geth prime split off and followed him. John took cover behind another column, he heard rifle fire nearby but couldn't see where it was, occasional sniper rifle shots made clear that his squad mates were still fighting. Shepard leaned out of cover and took a few shots, before ducking back, two of the five drones fell down to the ground and exploded. The Prime was now aware of Shepard's position, however, and was moving in quickly. Shepard took one more opportunity to shoot down the drones before the Prime forced him out of his cover. John moved back and hid behind another column, there was no more space to run, he was backed against the back wall. John leaned over and opened fire on the Prime, burning down its shields. The Prime wasn't going to stand there, taking the abuse, it launched several missiles towards Shepard and started to overwhelm him with machine gun fire. Shepard's shields took a heavy hit, one more attack like that and they would break, John put away the rifle and pulled out his trusty shotgun. He loaded in the shell into the M-300 Claymore and jumped out of cover, using biotic charge and launched himself towards the heavy geth unit. The force of impact staggered the Prime, but did not bring it down, it swung its massive chain gun, knocking Shepard to the ground, breaking his biotic barrier. John rolled out of the way avoiding the next hit, got up to one knee and pulled the trigger, the blast tore through the geth's torso, but his head remained intact. Without hesitation John launched a biotic shockwave right at the geth Prime, forcing the hole made by the shotgun open and tearing the unit into pieces. Breathing heavily, Shepard put down the shotgun on the ground, catching his breath. The extended use of biotics for the day was starting to catch up to him. Somewhat recovered, John stood up, his shields renewed, he reloaded the shotgun and ran towards the sound of rifle fire. It seems like Samara and Garrus took care of all the drones and managed to kill one of the Primes, but the last one had them pinned down behind some rubble. John waited till the geth unit started firing again, covering the sound of his footsteps, he ran up to the geth Prime from its back and shot point blank into its back. The geth did not expect to get flanked, the force of the blast broke its shields and knocked it down, John walked up to it and silenced it, breaking its head with a quick melee attack.

Garrus and Samara left cover and ran up to John, "Hell of a fight, Shepard. Just like old times. Let's get moving before more show up."

John nodded and the squad quickly moved through the door at the far end of the hall. Inside the building was a small room with metal shutters, the console in front of the shutters was lit, the door to the left, the only exit, was locked.

"I have a bad feeling about this...» Said Garrus inspecting the console.

"I agree, but it seems we do not have a choice." Samara nodded.

"Might as well get this over with. Get ready for anything." Shepard walked up and used the console, opening the shutters and the door. Shutters opened, revealing a small valley of ruins leading up to what Shepard assumed was the observatory. In front of it was standing a geth Colossus. It quickly spotted the open shutters and fired its main gun at the building.

"Get down!" John yelled as he and his squad jumped towards the door. The impact of the blast forced the three out of the building, luckily only damaging their shields. The team quickly got up and headed down the stairs into the valley ahead. At the bottom of the stairs, sitting behind a large metal bar was a single quarian.

"Over here! I got you covered!" he leaned out of cover with his missile launcher and shot several of them towards the Colossus, while John and his squad took cover next to him.

The quarian ducked back into cover and spoke to Shepard, "Squad leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before that drop ship arrived. Still have no idea why you're here, but this ain't the time to be picky." He pointed towards the observatory, "Tali is inside over there, the geth killed the rest of my squad, and they are trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."

"How many more geth are out there?" John replied.

"The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself. I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move closer, and one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."

"We need to reach Tali before they get to her. Any ideas?"

"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close, I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."

John shook his head, "You've done enough Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away."

Reegar quipped, "Wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe. This is our best shot." he leaned over to take a shot with a missile launcher but Shepard took him by the shoulder and pulled him back down.

"We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team! Stand down!"

"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire! They killed my whole squad!" Kal tried to break free of Shepard's hold but he was too weak to do so in his current condition.

"And if you want to honor your squad, watch my back! I need you here in case they bring reinforcements!" John replied, still holding Kal down.

There was a pause before Kal replied, "All right, Shepard. We'll do it your way. Hit them for me. Keelah se'lai.

Shepard turned over to Garrus and Samara, "Garrus I see a platform on the right, you take it and provide us with some cover, Samara and I will go down through the valley and clear out the geth forces. I have a special surprise for that colossus when we reach it."

Samara and Garrus nodded and prepared to move into position, Shepard switched back to his rifle, "Go!" he yelled out and jumped out of cover.

Shepard and Samara started moving down quickly, while Garrus ran up the platform on the right, overlooking the whole valley. The first few geth units were quickly gunned down by rifle fire and biotic blasts. Besides having to duck from the occasional blasts from the Colossus, Shepard and Samara were making good progress through the valley, moving from cover to cover, and with Garrus taking his shots on the geth from above, the plan was moving smoothly. The geth quickly picked up on that strategy and started to bunker down instead. Ordinarily that would be a bad thing, but in this case, it was completely different. Shepard put away his rifle and reached for a large bulky gun that he has been carrying with him this whole time. He activated it and the gun primed, opening up a large barrel.

John radioed Garrus, "Garrus, I will need them to draw your fire while I charge this thing, don't forget to duck afterwards." he then turned over to Samara, "Samara, can you distract them for me?"

Samara nodded and started moving to the left of Shepard, leaning over and taking shots as she did. Meanwhile Garrus moved closer on top of the platform and started doing the same. The geth lost interest in Shepard and split their focus, all while causing the Colossus to turn back and forth between the two targets.

John leaned over and placed the gun firmly on the stone block, he aimed it carefully at the colossus and pulled the trigger. The massive heat sinks on the edges of the long barrel extended to the sides, the gun began to charge producing a radiant yellow glow, a few seconds later the gun fired, giving a lot of recoil and sending its shell flying towards the geth Colossus. The shell quickly reached its target, generating a gigantic explosion upon impact, leaving a small mushroom cloud. The Colossus was in pieces, the rest of the geth were destroyed or just incinerated, the fight was over. Shepard powered down and folded the M-920 Cain, Garrus and Samara walked up to him as he was finishing up.

"Damn, Shepard. It makes me wish we had that thing when we fought Saren. He probably would have just surrendered back then." Garrus laughed.

"Bringing so many enemies to the embrace of the goddess at once, I am impressed yet again, Shepard." Samara smiled.

"We can thank the Normandy's engineers for coming up with this monster. Let's not waste time however, and get what we came here for." Shepard replied, heading towards the observatory.

As they approached it, Tali spoke through the radio, "Just a second. I locked the door to keep more geth from getting inside. There, that should do it."

The squad walked through the observatory entrance, inside was a large open area with many ancient looking consoles. Several dead geth were lying on the floor.

Tali was standing at the far end of the room, "Let me just finish the download."

John and his squad approached Tali, "Thank you, Shepard. If not for you, I would never have made it out of this room." She turned to Garrus, "You too Garrus." she sighed and turned around, "This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I'd joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."

"It's alright, Tali. I'm just glad I could help. Once you deliver the data, I could use you on the Normandy." John replied.

Tali nodded, "I promised to see this mission through. I did. I can leave with you and send the data to the Fleet. And if the admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die."

A voice came from the entrance, "Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am." it was Kal, he was in pretty bad shape, but he was moving.

Tali was rejoiced, "Reegar! You made it!"

Kal walked to everyone else, "Your old captain's as good as you said, Damn Colossus never stood a chance."

"If need be, the Normandy can get you out of here, Reegar."

"The geth didn't damage our ship. As long as we get out of here before reinforcements show up, we'll be fine." Kal replied.

Tali shook her head, "Actually, I won't be going with you. I'm joining Commander Shepard."

Reegar nodded, "I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened." he turned to face John, "She's all yours now, Shepard. Keep her safe."

"Will do Reegar, take care of yourself." said John and shook the quarian Commander's hand. Kal bid the rest of the squad farewell and headed for the exit, John radioed the Normandy for pickup.