Chapter 14
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She once again found herself adrift in darkness. She sighed to herself, the void surrounding her almost peaceful if it weren't for her robbed senses. She couldn't feel anything, see anything, or really do anything. She just found herself floating aimlessly as if the universe itself was an ocean and she was a leaf drifting on its surface.
Despite the common occurrence with dreams, she was fully lucid in this one. She knew everything from her waking self and could think to herself while she was trapped in this state. She didn't know why she kept being returned to this dark bubble, but it was extremely grating on her as she usually came out of it having little to no actual mental rest. Between the random visions from the prothean cipher that had broken loose and these visits to her internal void, she began to wonder if she was, in fact, losing her damn mind.
All she could do at the moment was simply curl up in the darkness and wait for her mind to come back to life.
Elevator – SSV Normandy SR-2
It had been a long day. She had numerous reports to file to the Council, all of them keeping them up to date on her movements and activities so they knew what to expect. Though she was mostly working in the Terminus Systems now, she was still a representative of the Council, and as such, her actions could reflect poorly on them. That said, they had mostly been pleased with her results.
Udina even sent her a nod of approval for throwing a wrench into Jedore Maxwell's plans, as it had the side effect of getting her father off his ass and erasing his complaints about not allowing corporations to operate freely in the Terminus. Then there was the Purgatory Prison report, which made the entire council look on with a sigh of relief. She sighed to herself at the response, as she had believed every word she told the warden. Those people weren't born that way, they were created, and it's the job of their society to undo the damage it had done. But it appeared they were more than happy with the delete button approach to the entire population.
Either way, she knew she had been suffering again. Something from that collector attack had jarred something loose in her head, and now she began to see visions embedded in the prothean cipher even clearer. She began to wonder if she were even human anymore as she sometimes found herself speaking in the prothean tongue when alone. It was extremely frustrating not knowing what was going to happen to her, so instead of dwelling on it she decided she would take her ire out on the punching machine in the training bay.
It was on her way to said training bay when the doors to the elevator opened and on stepped her executive officer. Operative Lawson eyed her as she stepped onto the elevator and allowed it to close again. There was a few seconds of silence before she started. "You haven't been sleeping."
"I have two doctors on this ship, if I need one I'll go to them," snapped Shepard irately as she glared at the woman. Realizing what she had done, she reached up and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry…"
Miranda smirked at her and crossed her arms, ignoring the datapads for the moment. "You've done more work in the last few months than most people do their entire careers, Shepard," she said, then shrugged. "Aside from asari of course. The point is, you're putting a lot of stress on yourself. It's like you said, you need therapy and you need help."
Shepard eyed the woman curiously. "And I suppose you're the one to help me?"
"If you want the help, I'm happy to help. But of course, I'm not your only option," said the woman as she passed one of the datapads towards the spectre.
The redhead eyed it before grabbing it and reading it. "Another dossier?" she asked, her eyes rolling. "How many more people does he want me to get?"
Miranda gave her a playful glare. "We have two more dossiers marked up for you and that's the extent of the team. But I will comment that he isn't the one going out of his way to add more crew members than necessary."
"Fair assessment," said Shepard as she skimmed the data. "An asari justicar? Haven't heard about those since I was a girl."
"They rarely ever leave asari space, and for good reason. They're enforcers of justice to the asari people. And while asari themselves would likely never question a justicar killing someone for corruption, the same can't be said for other species. So, they mostly stay within the bounds of asari space unless they have a very good reason," said the XO as she leaned against the elevator wall.
"So, you want me to ask her to help?" asked the spectre curiously as she looked up at the woman.
Miranda shook her head and reached over before tapping on the pad. It zoomed into the location where the justicar was last seen. "As far as the Illusive Man's network can tell, both of your next targets are on Illium."
Shepard's eyes widened slightly as she realized what she was saying. "Illium is where…"
"Liara is an information broker on Illium, yes," responded Miranda as the elevator doors finally opened. The pair walked out. "If you don't trust me to help you, there's always plan A."
Shepard eyed her sternly before stopping her feet and crossing her muscular arms. "Look Miranda, it's not that I don't trust you. It's that I can't trust you with what's in my head."
"I understand, Spectre. We're on stable footing with each other after a rocky start. I don't want to break the foundation again by being too pushy," said the woman with a half-smile. "Just know that… you've helped me a lot more than you realize. Or… hell, a lot more than I realized until a little while ago." Shepard cocked her brow at her XO curiously. But Miranda just gave her a glare. "A talk for another time. Get some damn sleep before I have Chakwas tranquilize you," ordered the woman before turning and heading off towards the crew quarters.
Shepard chuckled at the woman before looking down at the file again. The woman, like most asari who grew to her age, looked hardly older than Shepard herself. The photo they had of her wasn't even a proper picture, it was simply an omni-tool quick shot of her while she was no doubt flinging some poor bastard into the upper atmosphere. "What the hell makes the Illusive Man think she's going to work for me?" asked Shepard as she sighed and entered the training bay. Several people were already inside the bay, including a few of the human crewmates. Jacob was bench pressing with them while Garrus was putting one of the treadmills through its paces. But most noticeably was Grunt, who was wearing little more than a pair of krogan shorts made especially for him.
She saw him back in the combat ring and she almost had to stop herself from laughing and crying at the same time. On the one hand, watching a massive krogan monster training for combat should have been a terrifying spectacle to watch. On the other hand, when he was slipping around the arena because he was attempting knee strikes he had just seen her do aboard the prison ship, she almost wanted to melt. She simply smiled as she strolled into the arena and turned the encrypted datapad off. Setting it aside, she began to wrap her hands as Garrus approached.
"So…" he started as he stared at the large krogan who was now holding the same stance she had against the warden. "You think if I break someone's neck with a kick I could get him to try kicking over his head?"
"If you hurt the krogan, I hurt you Garrus," she said playfully as she finished her second hand and slammed one fist into her palm. "He's just wholly unfamiliar with martial arts. Krogan lost theirs a few millennia ago when guns became their primary source of killing. Trust me when I say I was doing the same thing when I was a kid until I actually learned the art myself."
"I guess you're right. I've gotta cut him some slack. He's doing a lot of growing up in a short amount of time," said the turian as he looked away from the krogan. "Speaking of science experiments gone wrong, I think Jack kinda just took over the lower deck of the ship."
Shepard eyed him curiously. "The engines?"
"No, even lower than that. She managed to find some little storage closet down on the very bottom of the ship," he said as he spun his hand in a shrugging manner. "I told her we have bigger rooms up on the crew deck and… ah… let's just say that she described in graphic detail what I could do with those rooms," he said as he almost chuckled. "Also, she said she needed to talk to you about the deal you made."
"I'll get to her when I'm done here," said the woman as she stepped over to the impact machine and began with light jabs.
"I gotcha. Just thought you ought to know she's coming in case she decides to start stalking you across the ship," said Garrus before he turned back towards the arena. A look of shock covered his face as Grunt stood directly in front of him with a giant grin.
"Lethwei!" shouted the young krogan before throwing his head forward and slamming it into Garrus's own. The turian flew back and rolled onto his chest before letting out a heavy sigh.
"That's gonna be sore for a while," groaned the turian as he rubbed his plated head sorely. "I'm pretty sure if your plate had already formed, I'd be missing my head right now."
"Come on, Garrus! Let's spar! I'm itching to try out some moves," said the brute as he moved in to help the marksman up.
"I think I need a week of medical leave after that one," groaned the turian as he got to his feet and patted the large krogan on the back. "Alright, Grunt. I'll let you try some of your moves. But no more headbutts. Those are only for real combat."
"Right! Got it!" said the krogan excitedly as he began to shake himself loose in the ring.
Shepard smirked at the pair of them hitting it off before she finally turned back to the machine and once again began throwing haymakers and straight punches into the padded reader. She let her feet fly, jogging in place like a boxer, bouncing back and forth to keep her feet moving as she increased the intensity of her punches. She found herself growing annoyed as another vision flashed into her head.
She was prothean, standing in a forest above a training camp for war. Instead of practicing sparring with the others, she had decided to practice killing moves, something she had been shamed for before. But she knew what war was. She wasn't some child who believed that soldiers were heroes defending freedom and liberty. She was a killer, and her job was to make sure anyone she fought didn't get up again. So, she practiced by herself, slamming her fists into the tree over and over again, each punch leaving bigger and bigger craters as she began to put biotics behind them. Then finally…
"Shepard!" snapped Jacob from behind her. She gasped as her biotic aura dispersed, having gotten lost in her own head and jumped back to see the machine she had just demolished. She panted heavily before reaching up and wiping the sweat from her brow before looking to the young man. He eyed the machine, then looked back at her. "Did… did you just use a warp while punching?" he asked incredulously. "You can do that?"
"I… " she growled before sighing in frustration once again. Reaching up, she tore the wrappings from her hands and grabbed the datapad, leaving them all behind in a stupor.
Zakera Marketplace – Zakera Ward – Citadel
"What the actual fuck, Shepard!?" came Jack's voice as Shepard found her standing at the entrance to the markets. They had scheduled to meet up and get her actual clothing instead of making her run around in the rags she was wearing. In the meantime, she borrowed one of Shepard's workout uniforms, which were a bit big on her.
Miranda and Shepard eyed her curiously at her outburst. "Some context is needed, Jack," said the spectre as she stepped through the doorway and into the busy marketplace.
The young woman glared at Miranda, and Shepard almost immediately knew where this was going. "When you said you were using Cerberus's resources, you didn't mention anything about working with the fuckers," she snapped as she death glared the XO.
"Here we go…" groaned Miranda as she reached up and rubbed her head.
"Yeah, here we fucking go, bitch. And you," she jabbed as she turned to Shepard. "You also didn't mention the fact that they brought you back from the dead!"
"Why does that matter?" asked the spectre with a shrug.
"Why wouldn't it matter? I'm supposed to be working with you and here you are walking around in a shiny new body that Cerberus gave you!" she growled angrily as Shepard became aware of the people eyeing them.
"Jack," said Shepard firmly with her own glare.
"What?" retaliated the biotic.
"Do you feel like you owe your parents for giving birth to you?" asked the spectre curiously as she crossed her arms.
Jack immediately scoffed. "No. They're probably the ones that handed me over to Cerberus anyway."
"You didn't ask to be born, and I sure as hell didn't ask to be resurrected. So, what makes you think I would feel some obligation to Cerberus because of it?" she asked firmly as her brows furrowed.
Jack looked down at the ground for a moment before finally looking back up. "Alright, fine. You don't owe Cerberus. But you sure as fuck didn't think to tell me you had literal Cerberus on the ship you're flying."
"And if my head wasn't fucked sideways from that collector attack, I might have told you. I had other shit to deal with when we escaped the prison," said Shepard with a heavy sigh. "If that's crossing the line then you're free to go your own way, Jack. But Miranda and Jacob are a part of my squad. You don't have to like them, but if you want what I have to offer, then you have to work with them."
Jack scowled at Miranda for a long moment before finally sighing to herself. "Fine. I'll work with them. But the moment they try and slap a collar on me I'm shredding them into ion particles." Jack gave the operative a sarcastic smile. "Hear that, thunder tits? That catsuit isn't going to stop me from ripping you apart at the cellular level if you fuck with me."
"Noted," said Miranda with a deadpan look on her face. "Mind if we get going before we start drawing an even bigger crowd?"
Jack looked around for a moment and just realized that people had stopped to stare at their argument. "The fuck you looking at!?" she snapped as her biotics lit. Immediately, everyone scattered in fear of her display.
Shepard smirked at the adolescent display before shaking her head. "I'm gonna have to teach you some other skills besides biotics. They'll save you in a pinch."
"My biotics have kept me alive all this time. Why would I need to learn more now?" asked the young woman as she marched next to the spectre, eyeing everyone who passed by suspiciously.
"You got caught and imprisoned," said Shepard with a knowing stare. "Even asari who live their entire lives in a society based around biotics learn how to use weapons and hand to hand. And if you're worried about survival, then you won't brush off the extra assistance."
"Fine. But don't think for a second that I'm training with her," she said, shooting the XO another glare as the woman rolled her eyes.
"I'm really living in your head that much?" asked Miranda as she appeared to reach her breaking point.
"Just you and the void, bitch," spat Jack as she gave the XO the finger.
But Shepard stopped them as he raised her arms. "The void?" asked Shepard curiously as she turned to Jack.
"Yeah?" said Jack in confusion. "Dark place, nothing around. Kinda feels like you're swimming in a black hole."
"You experience that as well?" asked Shepard in awe.
Miranda spoke up from behind her. "As far as we know, most biotics do. It's some latent result of the nodes in our nervous system."
"Huh, no kidding," said Jack as she eyed Shepard. "That's right, you're biotic now!"
"That's right," said the spectre as she scratched her head.
"Did they do it to you?" asked the tattooed young woman as she nodded to Miranda.
"Sort of. I already had the potential, but they just activated it," she said as she waved the questions off. "In any case, let's hurry up and get you something to wear before C-Sec arrests you for disturbing the public."
"Ha! Wouldn't be the worst thing I've been locked away for," said the shaven woman as she turned to Shepard and crossed her arms over the N7 logo on her shirt. "So, you said I'd get information."
"Right. Here," said the spectre as she turned to look at the woman curiously. She didn't have an omni-tool or really anything electronic on her. "Well, I'll get it to you once we've got you set up with new stuff."
"Right," said the young biotic as she looked around at the different stores. "Now, where to start?"
Rogue's Gallery – Zakera Ward – Citadel
"All cultures across the galaxy centered in a single location, and you decide to buy late 1900's punk clothing?" asked Miranda as she eyed the young woman.
Jack sneered back at her. "Damn right. What, you want me to walk around with a bodysuit shoved in my crack like you?" she said as she reached into one of the bags and grabbed a beanie before putting it on her head.
"I don't think you could fill a body suit," sniped Miranda as she eyed her from head to toe.
"You're probably not wrong. But at least I can fit through doors without having to approach at an angle, wrecking ball," retorted Jack as Shepard covered her face with both of her hands to stop them from noticing her laughing at their back and forth.
"Dear god, you two are going to kill me," said the spectre as she rubbed the stress from her face. "If you don't kill each other first that is…" she began but stopped talking as she saw Lia'Vael standing nervously in front of her. "Lia?"
"I-I'm sorry, Captain Shepard. Er… Spectre Shep… Shepard," said the young quarian nervously.
Shepard eyed her up and down noticing that she was fidgeting wildly. "What's the matter?"
"Ah… it appears that the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet would like to speak with you," she said as she stared at the ground.
"You've… never spoken to the Admiralty Board before, have you?" asked the spectre curiously.
"I'm the daughter of a cafeteria maid and a carpenter. I'd never be spoken to by one of the Board unless they were speaking to my crew as a whole," she muttered, getting a nod from Shepard.
"That explains the anxiety. What did they want?" asked the redhead as Jack began rustling through the bags again to fetch a leather jacket.
"I-I don't know. He asked if you had a quantum entanglement communicator aboard the new Normandy, and since that wasn't classified, I told him yes. He told me to get you to it immediately," said the young quarian as her fidgeting began to die down.
"Welp, this sounds like an emergency," she said with a sigh before turning to Miranda. "Miranda, you show Jack around the Citadel and get her an omni-tool so we can keep in communication. Then take her to get some armor for combat," she said before digging out an account chit and handing it to the XO. "I shouldn't be long but have your communicator on just in case."
Miranda let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Can't you make one of the other crew members babysit for you?"
"Babysit?" growled Jack as she eyed the woman.
"Sure," said Shepard with a shrug. "Who would make a good new executive officer?" Miranda blinked at her in surprise before groaning to herself again. Shepard just smirked and patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry XO, that role comes with responsibilities."
"Hear that little Cerberus cheerleader? You and me are gonna have a girl's day out," said Jack with an evil grin that almost made Shepard feel bad.
"Don't have too much fun you two," ordered Shepard before she nodded to Lia'Vael. "Let's go."
QEC – SSV Normandy SR-2
She stepped into the communicator room and turned to Lia who stood outside. Nodding her head, she said, "Come on. Inside."
"B-But…" started the quarian as she timidly stepped into the room.
"You're my crew, Lia. And you're my current liaison to the quarian people," she said firmly. Lia still looked like she had doubts, however. "Alright, Lia'Vael vas Normandy, as your captain, I order you to get into the communicator with me."
The young engineer went rigid at the name she had used. Almost immediately, her entire attitude changed from a frail, timid little tagalong into a tall and proud member of the crew. "A-As you order, Shepard," she said, her voice still shaky.
Shepard smiled at her before turning to access the console. "Here, enter the access codes to the quarian fleet," she said as she stepped aside. Lia stepped up and typed at the console for a few moments before stepping back again as the Normandy flagged the QEC on the Migrant Fleet. It received a response within moments, and the quantum entanglement communicator scattered light around the room, forming the shape of a male quarian seated in a rather authoritative looking chair.
He wore a combination of red and white with familiar patterns around the hood of his exosuit. Once the entire room had been constructed, he greeted her.
"Captain Shepard," he said as he held up his hand in traditional quarian greeting.
Shepard mimicked the greeting, holding her fingers together to mimic the three fingered hand of the quarians. She knew she was never going to get the quarians to stop calling her captain, so she might as well give up trying. "Admiral. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting."
"No, though I have met your crew member, one Kaidan'Alenko of the Normandy," he said, unable to shake the habit to mention the ship name. "I heard he died an honorable death in combat against the geth. You have my condolences," he said as he gave a respectful bow of his head.
Shepard's brows furrowed at the mention of her lost crew member. "Apologies, Admiral, but he's been gone a long while now. I'd appreciate if we could move past the small talk and get to the point of your call." Shepard could immediately tell that Lia went rigid with fear at her response. Normally, she'd try to avoid putting her in an awkward position, but she knew the admiral's condolences for what they were, a way to butter her up before asking a favor. If he actually cared for the welfare of Kaidan, he'd have made that call when Tali brought the news back to the fleet.
"Apologies. I was just hoping we could speak in private," he said as he turned his head towards the young quarian standing nearby.
"Admiral, Lia'Vael is my current ambassador to the quarian people. In fact, her urgency is the reason we're speaking right now. I'd prefer to have her present in case I need context that my human experience cannot provide," she said firmly, shutting down his attempt to kick the young engineer out of the room.
The man let out a sigh of annoyance before nodding. "As you wish, Captain," he said before sitting up in his chair. "Captain, you do not know me, but you know of my daughter. My name is Rael'Zorah vas Rayya."
Shepard's eyes widened as she realized where the familiar swirling patterns on his hood came from. "You're Tali'Zorah's father?"
"I am indeed," he said as he tapped the arm of his chair urgently. "And it's about my daughter that I'm calling you."
"Did something happen, Admiral?" asked Shepard urgently as she stepped forward.
"I… do not know," he responded as he sat up straight in his chair. "The Admiralty Board, myself included, sent her out on a mission into the Perseus Veil to a world called Haestrom in the Dholen System. She was sent two days ago and they have not returned, nor have we heard any word from her or her team."
"That doesn't sound good, Admiral," said the woman as she gave him a stern glare. "Why was she sent there? What was she supposed to accomplish?"
"I cannot discuss such things with you, Captain. Those secrets pertain to the Migrant Fleet's own security," he said firmly as he shook his head.
"Admiral, we're talking about your daughter's life. I'm more than willing to go and get her if she's still alive, but the chances of me succeeding get higher the more information I have," she said as she crossed her arms. "You know more than most that I'm not going to give the Fleet's secrets, regardless of how minor they are, to anyone."
The admiral sighed and buried his masked face in his hands. "It's not that simple, Shepard," he said, getting oddly personal by using her name this time. "If the information obtained from Haestrom gets into the wrong hands, it could put the entire fleet in danger."
Shepard frowned at the man. "Admiral, even with other species, I'm pretty good at reading people. And there's something being left unsaid here," she stated as she stepped up in front of his holographic form, towering over his seated figure. "You and I both know about the geth datacard that you received as a gift from Tali'Zorah, so you know damn well I'm not about to endanger the fleet. But you also know that I'm a spectre. Which means that you think whatever information you're holding back might get you in further trouble with the Council."
She could see his eyes focus into a glare from behind his mask. "Ever the perceptive one, Shepard," he said before slumping back into his seat. "The Admiralty Board read many things in the datacard you mentioned. We've been reading it for years, even after your reported death. A few months ago, we were going over their descriptions of their expansion into the Perseus Veil after the Morning War and the world Haestrom was brought up as particularly hostile. So hostile, in fact, that they abandoned it."
The spectre's eyes narrowed at the admiral. "Why would it be hostile to geth?"
"Haestrom's sun, Dholen, became a red giant many millions of years ago before either of our species even existed. Ever since, it has assaulted all of the planets in its system with electromagnetic waves that fry almost any kind of electronic exposed to direct sunlight," he said as the woman gave him a curious head tilt.
"But the geth are built to withstand electromagnetism," she said, getting a nod in return.
"They are built to withstand electromagnetic attacks. From electromagnetic pulses released by most nuclear fusion reactions and generated from starship engines. But we're talking about the concept of throwing a waterproof container into the ocean. It will hold its seal for a while, but the overwhelming consistency and crushing depths of the ocean will eventually break it. The same is true for the geth on Haestrom. They would be able to withstand it in extremely small amounts of time, but they would quickly be overwhelmed by the consistency of the star's relentless onslaught," he responded knowingly.
"So, the geth abandoned Haestrom?" she asked curiously. "But what does that have to do with the quarians and the Fleet?"
He sighed heavily before speaking. "As you've probably heard from Tali, Spectre, we are weary. The quarian people are tired of roaming the stars and are constantly on the lookout for any kind of resting place. Before the Morning War, our people had colonized Haestrom and lived simple lives there with few machines for assistance due to the sun."
Shepard's eyes widened at the implication. "You're looking to colonize it again?"
He looked away from her before continuing. "It's not perfect. We would have to replant flora native to Rannoch onto the surface and even then it would be years before we could take our helmets off again. We'd also have to resort to pre-spaceflight technology while on the world. And we would have to take measures to make sure the geth never knew we were there. But we would have a place to rest."
Shepard's brow rose in confusion. "Okay, but you said you didn't want to tell me because it could cause you trouble with the Council. Why would they have an issue with you colonizing beyond the Perseus Veil?"
"The Council are merciless, Shepard. They didn't just strip us of the right to colonize habitable worlds. They refused to allow us any world at all. The last planet we attempted to colonize in the Terminus Systems resulted in the threat of the destruction of our fleet," he said with a heavy sigh. "They don't care that the planet wasn't habitable, they care that we weren't taking our punishment. If they found out we were thinking of colonizing again, it wouldn't matter that it was beyond the Perseus Veil. They would still slam us with sanctions and tariffs, making it impossible for us to establish any kind of trade with Citadel Space. Which means we would have to resort to trading on the black market."
"But the Terminus Systems aren't beholden to Citadel Law," she said, growing even more confused.
"Tell that to Illium and Omega. Who, despite their claim to be independent of Council Space, still do not do business with those blacklisted by the Citadel Council. We would have to work under the table with people unbothered by association with us, which means…" he said, trailing off.
Shepard continued for him. "Exploitation and higher prices," she said with a heavy sigh. "I understand your worry, Admiral. But I assure you that no mention of Haestrom or your plans there are ever going to reach the Council from me or my crew," she said, making sure to include Lia as well.
"The quarian people appreciate your discretion, Shepard," said the man as he sat up again. "As for Tali, she went to Haestrom to see if it was indeed abandoned, and if so, how likely it is to be habitable for us. But her last communication said something about movement inside the ancient structures on the surface. We haven't heard back from her or her team since," he said with a shrug. "This could just be a misunderstanding. It could just be that her equipment suffered accidental exposure to the sun's electromagnetic waves and shorted out. But no response from her team either makes me worry."
"Understood, Admiral. I'll swing by there and see what I can find," she said before eyeing him. "Just so we're clear Admiral, I'm going to be doing my best to recruit your daughter to my cause once I've saved her."
"At this point, Shepard, I just want to make sure she's alive. If she chooses to go with you afterwards, she has my blessing," he responded with a wave of his hand. "Please keep me updated when you learn anything."
"Understood, Admiral," she said before the holographic room darkened again. Turning, Shepard groaned to herself. "Welp, so much for resting."
Ruins of Kel'Res – Haestrom
The shuttle, currently wearing protection against the overwhelming electromagnetic waves, blasted its way through the hot atmosphere of the world and quickly slipped itself into the shade of the ruins. The scrambling screens on the controls of the vehicle popped up again once they were behind the thick layers of shielded concrete. The heavy shuttle flew over a vehicle and Shepard opened her omni-tool. "Hold position, Jacob."
"Affirmative," said Jacob as he did as he was ordered.
She scanned the vehicle curiously before nodding to the others. "Landed two days ago. It's their ship. Let's set down nearby and get inside."
The soldier managed to get as close to the door of the ruin as he could before landing the vehicle safely in the shade. "Let's try not to be inside too long or the sun's gonna come over that wall and we'll all be trapped here," he said as he released the controls of the shuttle.
She looked back to the others and waved for them to exit the vehicle. Grunt and Garrus exited the back of the shuttle and they all began shuffling behind the large walls built by the ancient quarians. "Remember. Seconds at a time. Don't let yourself get caught in the sun or it'll fry your weapon, your armor, and probably you with it," ordered Shepard as she sprinted across a gap in the wall.
"How the hell is this building blocking the electromagnetic pulse of a dying star?"asked Garrus incredulously as he made the same sprint in about half the time. It didn't help that he looked like he was hardly trying.
"Lead mixed into the concrete. For clarification, it's not blocking all of it. It's just scattering it away from us. Now let's get in there and find out what happened to Tali," she said, moving with urgency as she worried about how she might find her friend. She didn't know how she would be able to take the thought of Tali being gone. But then, she guessed that's how Tali felt about Shepard after her death.
Sprinting up to the front door of the building, she reached down and pulled the handle outward, a common analog door design for quarians. The door swung open, and as she stepped inside her face fell. "Dammit…" she growled as she saw the roof had been caved in long ago, exposing a good portion of the room to the sun.
"Shouldn't be too hard if we're quick," he said as he began hopping lithely from one slab of broken concrete to another, only dipping into the sun for brief moments at a time.
"Says the turian whose carapace evolved to block solar radiation," said Shepard with a smirk, appreciating how he had all but suspended his normally shining sense of humor due to the serious nature of the mission. Following mostly in his footsteps, she too bounced from one rock to another until they had passed through and into the next room. This one was a fairly dark hallway, completely shielded from the sun itself. "Let's get to the next room before we try comms. I'm sure they had some kind of backup built inside the buildings for communicating."
As they broke in through the next door, her eyes widened as she saw a swarm of active drones fly out of every crevice they could fit into. "Get down!" shouted Jacob as he immediately shot out a biotic wave that caught three of them before they got a shot off.
Garrus raised his weapon and blasted the ones that Jacob caught as Shepard dove to the side and aimed with her pistol. But before they had been destroyed, Shepard noticed something off about them. Blasting one apart with her pistol, the rest were quickly destroyed as Grunt walked over and shot them with his shotgun like they were fish in a barrel.
"Was hoping for something… bigger," he complained with a bored tone in his voice.
"The sun isn't big enough?" asked Jacob, bewildered by his comment.
"I can't fight the sun," said the krogan with a shrug.
"If anyone could, Grunt, it's you," said the turian as he strolled over to make sure they were all dead.
"Heh heh heh, Sunfighter Grunt," he said jovially as he blatantly stepped on one of the small drones, crushing it to death.
"These look like geth drones, Shepard," said Garrus as he kicked one over towards her. "Odd that they're here."
The spectre looked down at the small machine, her brain doing circles. "Did anyone notice those drones flying in a pattern?"
"Sorry, too busy shooting," said Garrus who nodded to Jacob. "Good reflexes with the biotics there."
"Thanks," said the soldier as he stepped past Garrus. "Uh, Shepard."
She looked up from the drone as he waved for her to come over. She sped over to his side and saw the cause of his urgency. On the ground near the far door was a body belonging to a young quarian. It couldn't have been more than a day old. Garrus moved in close and examined it. "Crack in the faceshield but no impact scarring from mass accelerator weapons. Four shots to the back, one straight through the heart. Looks like he fell and cracked his face shield running for the door. I don't think they were expecting these geth to be here."
"I thought the geth couldn't come here," said Jacob in confusion. "Something about the sun frying their systems."
"That's what I was told," said Shepard with a sigh. It had been a while since she fought geth. Of all the things she missed from her previous life, fighting geth wasn't one of them. "Keep a close eye out. I don't like surprises," she said as she opened her omni-tool to try and communicate. "I'm not getting any kind of signal."
"Maybe they had a hardwired communication relay built into the building," said Jacob as he looked around for some kind of phone or radio.
Shepard used her omni-tool and scanned the quarian. Within seconds, she had scanned his omni-tool for messages or information and ended up finding the mission log. She opened it and scanned it briefly.
[Entered Dholen System]
[No Geth Presence Detected in System]
[Made Silent Landing on Haestrom at Kel'Res Ruins]
[Team Leader Commander Tali'Zorah vas Neema Detected Movement Within Ruins]
[Moving into Ruins With Caution]
She closed the log and shook her head. They were very basic notes. Probably done on the fly for a report later. Standing up again, she headed to the next door. "Let's expect more of these."
They were led through another small protected tunnel before making it to the next room. "You never realize how small quarians all until you have to go through one of their buildings," said Garrus who was ducking to try and fit.
"You're telling me," groaned grunt as he practically had to squat walk his way through the hall and was still scraping his shoulders on the walls on each side.
The door to the next room was opened and they were met with a similar but starkly different scene. The room was littered with more drones that had already been blasted apart with gunfire. On the far side of the room was another quarian, but this one was sat against the wall next to the door leading further out. Shepard once again did her scan and found a message stored on his device. Activating it, she allowed it to play for them all.
"Lora'Zavil vas Neema reporting. Commander Tali'Zorah and the rest of the surviving team are further in the ruins. I had been shot several times protecting her, I know I wasn't going to make it. I stayed behind to cover them and get rid of the remaining geth drones. Please, if she's still alive, you have to help her. Keelah'selai," he said, signing off for the final time.
Shepard clenched her fist as she thought about Tali lying in a similar position. "No," she said as she stood up and opened the next door. Almost as soon as she did, the soft sound of a concussion could be heard from a ways off. Then it was followed by the familiar quiet sounds of mass accelerator rounds being fired. "We've got live ones! Let's get moving!" she ordered as she slid her visor down and sprinted across the cavernous room.
It took a few minutes of sprinting and fighting more drones before they finally kicked the door down into what looked like a control tower for a shipping yard. Shepard approached the console and slammed the lever down to lower the window guards. As soon as she did the quiet sounds became a lot louder and she saw what she was dealing with. A geth colossus was standing at full height at the far end of the yard, firing its plasma shot down at a surviving quarian.
Looking at her omni-tool, she noticed that the communications were available now that the shields from the inside were down. Immediately she snagged the only available comm signal and jacked into it. "Spectre Jane Shepard of the Citadel Council here for backup. Who do I have on the line?"
"Shepard!? How in the Ancestor's name did you get here!?" came Tali's chirpy voice over the comm.
Shepard's eyes widened and relief flooded her body as she heard the young commander's voice. "Tali! You're alive!" snapped Shepard as she let out a heavy sigh. "Where are you?"
"I'm currently locked in the bunker on the south side of the shipping yard. If you can see it, there's a colossus standing in my way," she said, annoyance creeping into her voice. "I snuck over here before the machine was blocking the door so we could flank the damn thing, but it followed me and then Kal'Reegar shot the controls to the door and locked me inside to keep me safe."
"Kal'Reegar is the one still out here fighting?" asked Shepard as she spied the quarian down below in the red suit.
"Yes! Is he alright?" asked Tali desperately.
"He's fine as far as I can see. We need to take down the geth and get you out of there, so sit tight," ordered Shepard as she prepared her weapon.
"Shepard! It's not geth!" came Tali's response.
The spectre looked up at the colossus, then activated her comm in bewilderment. "Tali, it's a geth colossus... We've fought dozens of these things."
"That's not what I mean! All of the machines here are drones attached to a security system with a VI running it! It's been here since we fled during the Morning War. The quarians back then must have set it to kill anything that moves and left it as some kind of booby trap in case the geth came here. But they are not geth and do not act like geth. Please be cautious when approaching because it's a thousand times smarter than a single geth colossus you'd normally see," she said urgently over the comm.
"Understood," said the spectre as she surveyed the battlefield before them. She could see the quarian was injured, and with the constant assault from the machine's plasma cannon and assault guns, it was impossible for him to move from his position. Luckily, they could easily flank the creature as Tali wanted to do. The yard was wide enough that they could simply split apart and slowly move their way across the yard from every angle until one of them had its back. "Time to take some heat off of the quarian down there. Grunt?"
As his name was called, he emerged from the larger room behind them and finally saw the colossus. Immediately his face lit up as he pulled his shotgun free. "You got me a present!?" he asked excitedly as he prepared to charge.
"Woah," snapped Shepard, getting his attention before he did something stupid. "When I say go, you take the high ground," she said as she pointed to the bridge spanning above the yard.
"Right, gotcha," he said eagerly as she looked to the others.
Shepard turned to Jacob. "You take the left side of the yard. Use the boxes as cover if needed but get to a secure position and the left side of the machine," she ordered, getting a nod from the soldier. Finally, she turned to Garrus. "I'm gonna need you to distract it."
"Ah, finally utilizing me for my talents rather than my good looks?" he said charmingly as he opened his omni-tool.
She snorted and looked at all of them. "I'm going to go for the quarian and make sure they're safe and secure before I join you. Once you reach your destination, hold there and stay safe until Garrus and I can join you. Then we'll all take it out together." As she finished her orders she eyed the colossus, waiting for it to fire once again.
As it finally did, she sprinted out into the yard and took cover right next to the quarian, nearly making him jump out of his suit. "Keelah! Where did you come from!?" he snapped angrily as he swiveled a rocket launcher towards her. But she reached up and pushed it aside.
"I'm Tali'Zorah's old captain, Spectre Jane Shepard. Your name is Kal'Reegar, correct?" she asked hastily as his eyes widened.
"You've got some impeccable timing, Spectre," he said before nodding to her. "I'm Lieutenant Kal'Reegar vas Neema of the Migrant Fleet Marines. Tali'Zorah is-"
Shepard cut him off. "I know, she's locked in the far room behind the colossus. What I need to know is how you are right now? Are you injured? Do you need medication?"
"I've got a suit puncture and a limp. But I'm swimming in antibiotics and I'm ready to fight," he said as he held the rocket over his shoulder.
"I know this is going to be hard to hear, Lieutenant, but I actually need you to keep your head down," she said as the colossus aimed at another holographic Garrus and took a shot, but it flew right through and hit the ground instead.
"Like hell I will, Shepard," he snapped back at her, almost offended. "I'm not gonna sit back on my hocks and let you take that damn thing on alone!"
She shook her head, then brought up her omni-tool. "Alright, move up!" she ordered, and almost immediately, Garrus began to fire holoprojectors across the yard. The quarian noticed as illusions of the sniper began popping up all over the yard. The colossus fired a blast at one of them, immediately annihilating the projector.
Next, Grunt jumped out of cover and sprinted across the bridge. Jacob sprinted out too as Garrus took a direct shot at the colossus with his sniper. It took a long while before the machine finally calibrated itself to the new enemies.
Kal'Reegar glared at her. "That doesn't change my answer. I'm not asking your permission to fight."
"Good because I wasn't giving it," she snapped as she gripped his shoulder tightly. "Tali needs you alive. She's lost two marines already and she's going to have them hanging over her head for a long while. She doesn't need you on her conscience as well."
Kal'Reegar grumbled before slumping down behind the barrier. "So, what the hell am I supposed to do here?"
"Only fire if there's no other choice. Do not open yourself up to the colossus until we have its full attention," she ordered as she prepared her own weapon.
"Alright Shepard, we'll do this your way. Give them hell for me and Tali both," he said as he slapped his chest with a clenched fist. "Keelah'selai!"
"Keelah'selai," she responded as she finally broke from cover and stared up at the machine. Its head, glowing with plasma, was aimed and trying to fire at Grunt while its autocannons were still trying to kill off the illusions below. It was thinking tactically, and they needed some way to kill it before it wisened up to their plan.
Account Chit | Economics | Banking
There are many types of credit chits used throughout the galaxy and all of them are wired through a number of different accredited banks. Account chits are cards that are assigned to specific accounts in the bank, allowing someone to load the chit at will in order to spend.