-Chapter 18-
The Enemy
Jared tenuously followed Kaidan as they ascended the steps toward the CIC.
Kaidan's voice echoed in his mind as the door gave way to the command center. "If Shepard wants us to train you, you can sit in on meetings."
That's what you think. Not what your commanding officer does. He thought, precariously avoiding the various metal supports around them.
Kaidan stopped outside of the meeting room and turned to face Jared. "Listen, I know you're nervous, it's okay." He gestured toward the door. "Just walk in and act like you're meant to be there."
Jared shrugged slightly and nodded, it wasn't the most sound advice, but it made the anxiousness slightly more bearable
Kaidan casually waltzed in while Jared marched with purpose behind him. The meeting room itself was an ovoid with very little in the way of decoration or furniture. Metal padded walls surrounded a center platform containing several chairs that were deliberately placed in a circle. Shepard was seated in the middle chair with Garrus and Tali to his left and Wrex and Ashley to his right. He glanced up as the two entered, greeting Kaidan with a warm smile and Jared with a confused look. Kaidan coolly took the chair next to Ashley as Jared stood debating where to sit.
Wrex's eyes rotated to stare at him. "Why's pipsqueak here?"
"I thought it would be educational." Kaidan crossed his arms. "That's not a problem, is it?"
Shepard kept his gaze on Jared and nodded. "It's fine with me. I'll need to speak with him afterwards anyway." He motioned his head over toward the seat next to Tali.
Of course, why wouldn't he direct me to sit there, ultimate fantasy my ass.
He quickly sat and gave Tali a nervous smile, though he couldn't fully tell, he believed or perhaps hoped she smiled back under her mask.
"Right, let's get this underway." Shepard slowly rose from the chair. "After a day of searching, we've located the site where the Asari doctor Liara T'Soni was last seen."
As he spoke, a holographic screen materialized behind him, flashing images of the doctor, the dig site, and the planet itself.
"Are you expecting some sort of trouble?" Garrus scooted closer to the edge of the seat. "I can't imagine you calling a meeting otherwise."
Shepard's face turned solemn. "I'm not sure." He sighed, sitting back down. "After Eden Prime, I haven't been sure about anything."
He shook his head for a moment. "Expect trouble."
Garrus nodded and leaned back, satisfied with the response.
Shepard absently stared at the wall across from him before continuing. "We won't have a clear shot at the dig coming in. We'll be dropping a few clicks away in the Mako and making our way there."
Jared squirmed in his chair slightly, smothered by the weight of the discussion. He was aware of the danger the mission posed but talking about it publicly was off the table, although he felt some resentment toward him, he intended to honor the deal he made with Shepard.
Images flashed by on the holographic display before settling on a snapshot of the planet's surface. A red hue smothered the surface of rocky brown crags and volcanic pools, each bubbling with blistering disconcertment.
Wrex leaned his massive frame into the chair. "Looks hot. Why's this asari worth all this work?"
"She's Matriarch Benezia's daughter," Ashley added, staring at the holoscreen. "Who's Sarens right hand."
Shepard nodded. "Yes, which means she may be able to contact or at least help locate her."
"Which in turn gets us one step closer to Saren." Garrus's mandibles moved slightly as he spoke, causing Jared's skin to crawl.
"Seems we're all on the same page. Garrus, Tali, you'll be going with me. Get geared up and meet me in the cargo bay." Shepard rose from his chair and glanced toward the exit. "Everyone except for Jared is dismissed!"
The rest shuffled out silently as Jared remained in his seat, feeling the sweat begin to trickle from his forehead. After a few seconds, the room was empty, save for the two men; neither eager to conversate.
Shepard sighed as he stood and turned toward Jared. "I wanted to apologize." He hurriedly spoke. "I understand that this must be a lot to take in, especially for someone within your circumstances."
He sat down in the chair next to Jared and exhaled, letting his body decompress with the chair's leather. "I know what it's like, not having a home I mean."
Shepard's eyes searched the ceiling above him, as if searching for words written upon the cold metal. "When Mindoir was raided, I…" He stammered. "I searched the rubble for hours, hoping to find anyone else who had made it."
Jared stared at him intently, his eyes filled with concern. "When I stood on top of the town hall, I felt a deep, cold pit fill my stomach. Seeing the fires…the destruction, I felt truly alone."
Shepard quickly sat up, clearing his throat. "The Alliance, and the people within, are the only things that got me through it. Everyone was so kind and supportive." He turned to Jared and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I realized I haven't been that way for you, and for that I am sorry."
Jared sat solemnly for a few seconds, glancing between Shepard and the hand on his shoulder. He began to feel the balmy sting in his throat, the moistness in his eyes. As if willed by something greater, his arms lurched forward, surrounding Shepard in a tight hug. He felt Shepard recoil slightly before giving way to it, patting Jared softly on the back. An uncomfortable silence fell upon the room before the two let go and quickly returned to sitting.
"Anyway," Shepard flashed an Omni-tool on his wrist and typed a few seconds before flicking it away. "I've shared an exclusive communication channel with your Omni-tool. Just log into it when you get a feeling."
He awkwardly stood up and made for the exit before Jared spoke up. "A feeling? What do you mean?"
The conference room door opened smoothly and Shepard glanced back. "A psychic feeling. I don't know what this mission will hold, I could use some help."
Shepard solemnly stood near the equipment lockers, tapping his suits boots against the floor till they fit snugly around his feet. Tali and Garrus silently prepped behind him, checking their munitions alongside their suits' life support levels. The tension across the deck was palpable, the silence only strengthening it. Shepard's locker door shut with a slight click as his suit sprang to life, instantly running vitals checks and establishing shield generators with a slight thrum that echoed throughout the cargo hold. He clipped a pistol to the modular holster on his side, causing it to reshape into a small box upon his belt. Shepard's combat suit stabilized, the lights upon the trim dimming down, and he turned to join the rest of his team. He attempted to study them, get a read on their state of mind though the physiological differences made it a tad more difficult.
Garrus peered down the scope of a rifle as his talons ran across the barrel. Suddenly, his body braced for a figmental shot against an imaginary target, the only movement noticeable being the small, pulsating, mandibles upon his jaw. After a slight instant, he went back toward inspecting the weapon, as if not satisfied with the results.
Shepard always had a tough time understanding Turians, though, with the state of Alliance and Hierarchy relations still sore from first contact, he didn't have much practice with them. He gazed into Garrus' hawk-like eyes, attempting to find a semblance of an emotion. His eyes began to glaze over before he shook his head, finding nothing but focus within the Turian. Giving up for now, he shifted over toward Tali before quickly realizing there wouldn't be much luck there either.
The Quarian's bright eyes flickered across her visor, matching the movements of her fingers as she typed away on her Omni-Tool. She paced back and forth as her metal leg supports tapped against the floor with a certain rhythm. While he couldn't read her face, he could read her body language clear enough. The young lady was quite nervous.
"Equipment checks going well?" He asked, clearing his throat.
Garrus remained focused down the rifle. "As well as it can go. This scope needs adjusting." He grasped the adjustable knob around the scope and slowly began moving it.
"Just looking over planet readings." Tali came to a sudden stop as she spoke. "I'm making sure my suit's bio-filter will pick everything up."
He let out a slight sigh. Pre-mission speeches were never his forte. He imagined if any of his previous commanding officers were interviewed, they would be surprised he made it to Commander with his public speaking skills. Words never came to him naturally, and even when they did, they were blunt and stilted. Anderson's words flowed eloquently from him, no stoppage from mind to mouth, confidence behind every statement. Even Udina, despite his smugness and superiority complex, spoke with conviction.
Shepard's mind raced over every wrinkle, searching for the miracle string of statements he made a day prior, yet nothing of that caliber came.
"I know this is our first mission together." The others watched him as he continued. "But treat this as any other planetside romp and we'll be fine."
Their faces didn't move, at least from the little he could tell. Tali's eyes flicked slightly and Garrus simply returned to his weapon maintenance. The words didn't flow, there was little conviction, they simply fell from his mouth and landed upon the floor, weighing the whole room down with them.
The transmitter within the hold crackled slightly as Joker's voice came through. "Hey Commander?"
Shepard shook the "speech" from his mind. "Yes Joker?"
"We're approaching the drop site, might want to get settled in. ETA is five minutes." The transmitter cut sharply as the echo of Joker's voice dissipated from the hold.
"You heard him, load up in the Mako and get ready for a drop." He nodded to the rest before crossing the cargo hold.
Standing before the great vehicle, its scale could truly be appreciated. About forty feet in length and twenty in height, the massive mechanical beast oozed with power, its 150mm cannons and alloy plating only compliments to the sheer might it possessed. Shepard had seen several before and Mako handling was a requirement for N7 training, yet this would be his first, completely unmonitored drop. It was a terrifying thought, having to ferry down multiple tons whilst pressures of the atmosphere attempted to fashion the vehicle into scrap metal. Despite all of his experience and training, there were still things that made his stomach churn in fear. Fortunately, all Alliance military training teaches you to take the fear and turn it outward, something that Shepard excelled at.
The interior of the Mako was entirely cramped, every cubic inch of space dedicated to essential machinery. The driver's seat was encapsulated by displays that would show the current surroundings of the vehicle once powered on, two passenger seats flanked either side of it with small screens that mimicked the drivers displays. There was further seating toward the back along with slight storage for armaments and survival supplies if needed. Otherwise, the inside did what it needed to, function efficiently.
Shepard nestled himself in the driver's seat and reached for the power button as Garrus and Tali attempted to crawl in through the main hatch.
"Are all alliance vehicles this…cramped?" Tali asked, attempting to squeeze past the mechanisms surrounding the left passenger seat.
Shepard chuckled lightly as the Mako sprang to life with a steady warble, the power coursing through it. "Almost yeah, drop shuttles are a bit spacier though."
Garrus deftly found the way to his seat. "Trust me, our vehicles are worse. A Turian Engineer could find about one-hundred more things to cram in here"
Audio emitters fired to life within the cabin. "Approaching the dropsite now Commander."
Shepard turned to Garrus and Tali, each giving a slight nod as they fastened their safety harnesses around them. Small mass effect fields began shining around the straps, emitting a minute amount of force that would gradually increase with the vehicle's velocity, keeping its occupants stable. Warning claxons rang out through the hold as more fields sprung up to cover the entrances and exits. As they did, the hangar doors opened, giving way to the massive planetside below them. The red blotchy landscape was dotted with lava pools and heavy metal pipes that carried various materials to the sparse scientific stations that sprung up occasionally. The view inside the cockpit soon matched that of the hold as the display screens lit up, each one slightly delayed from the other. Shepard gripped the ergonomic handles that lined the steering wheel and smoothly detached the Mako from its holding dock. The metal beast lumbered toward the open hole before coming to a screeching halt a few feet away, the displays showing the rapidly changing landscape. The cockpit was deathly silent, each occupant watching the flashing red indicator on the audio transmitter, waiting for the moment it turned a solid green.
After what seemed an eternity, the red turned to green as Joker's voice echoed over the transmitter. "Drop is a go. I repeat, drop is a go."
Before the first word was uttered, Shepard engaged the acceleration and the massive vehicle rocketed out the cargo hold. A sudden lurch overtook it as the hull hit the atmosphere, causing the force dampeners to kick in accompanied by the light thrum of power. Displays and indicators began to fire off, showing various warnings and corrections to the pilot. Shepard frantically dismissed, corrected, or ignored them as he attempted his first unmonitored planetside landing. He felt the sweat begin to build underneath his suit before the life support system compensated and sent cooling waves down his appendages. Giant wording flashed upon the screens: ENGAGE THRUSTERS a robotic voice called out as Shepard lunged for the thruster control. The vehicle shook violently as the thrusters attempted to counteract the onslaught of gravitational forces against it. The mass effect fields around the harness purred loudly, saving the occupants from a danger fraught descent. Finally, the mako's tires slammed against the ground, shock absorbers distributed the energy as the vehicle suddenly found itself resting upon the planet. Tali and Garrus kept their hands catatonically gripped against their straps, staying frozen in their seats.
Shepard turned back and smiled before reaching for the transmit button. "Joker, this is Shepard, away team is aground."
Jared sat at a mess table, idly flicking his Omni-Tool on and off, eyeing the radio button when it came up. Each time, he'd bring his finger toward it before pulling away suddenly. He sighed, dropping his head in his hands. The cafeteria had been empty for a bit now, no meals were scheduled for a while, and Jared sat with time on his hands, and a lot resting on his shoulders.
The usual thrum of the ship was accompanied by boots knocking against the metal floor, someone was coming. Jared quickly sat back up, dousing the Omni-Tool and making sure his right arm was beneath the table. A short, but nonetheless imposing, woman came around the corner, her raven hair tied in a tight bob, contrasting her lighter complexion. She carried herself with the air of an Admiral cut with a rougher edge, each step she took was purposeful yet flowing, a walking contradiction.
Ashley Williams. He thought, feeling his body unconsciously squirm below him. One of the few crew members he had yet to fully interact with, and one he was not looking forward to. Ashley spoke plainly, never softening blows or sugarcoating, both of which Jared needed recently.
She side eyed him as she moved past, toward the kitchen. She squeezed around the solitary island and flung the refrigerator door open. After a few seconds of looking, she clicked her tongue and shut the door forcefully.
Jared could feel her eyes bore in the back of his skull as he sat, frozen in his seat. "Is there anything here that's actually fresh? Like fruit or something?"
"Not really." He responded, without turning his head. "Do you need me to make something?"
Ashley reached and grabbed a glass mug from a cupboard above the sink. Placing it under the spigot, she turned the knob to cold as the cup slowly began to fill with recycled water. Once it was close to full, she stopped the faucet and grabbed the mug, sipping on it as she walked toward Jared's table.
"Nah. I was looking for something small." She motioned toward an empty seat across from him. "You mind if I sit?"
Jared glanced between her and the chair before nodding, slightly breaking from his tense posture.
She sat down with an exhale and ran her fingers through her scalp. "I gotta tell ya."
Oh no, here we go.
"I don't like being sat out on this one. Make me antsy, you know?" She stretched her shoulders and leaned back in the chair, staring at the blank ceiling.
Jared, still surprised from not being berated, took a moment. "Yeah, it feels a little demeaning."
Ashley suddenly shot back up in her chair, looking at him with excitement in her eyes. "I know right? I told him that if there was a chance for revenge on those Geth bastards, I wanted in. Instead he takes two non-Alliance with him. It doesn't sit right with me."
He mulled the thought over in his head. "You're right, that is sort of odd. But are we even if Geth are on the planet?"
She rolled her eyes. "Shepard said to expect trouble, plus, with Benezias daughter on the planet, I wouldn't be surprised if they're there protecting her or something."
"That seems a little far-fetched." Jared saw as an unimpressed frown crossed her face. "But I'm sure there's Geth down there." He quickly added.
Is this an actual conversation? I expected something a lot more condescending.
Suddenly, her frown turned into a wicked grin as she eyed his right arm. "Only one way to find out right?"
There it is.
"Wha-what are you talking about?" He stammered, trying his best to look nonchalant.
She sighed and crossed her arms. "Come on, I saw you deliberating over your Omni-Tool before I came in here, and Shepard needed to see you after the meeting. Plus, he brought you aboard for a reason right? It doesn't take a lot to see the big picture here."
Jared gripped the edges of the seat as a cold sweat broke out across his forehead. The same grin plastered on her face as she stared through him.
"You're some kind of tactical genius right? A child prodigy or something? And he gave you a secret comm to relay advice through? I have to be right on the money with this."
Well she got half of it right.
Jared scratched the back of his head. "It's…" He exhaled, broke his gaze from hers, and began idly fiddling his thumbs. "Something like that I suppose."
Ashley sprung out of her chair and let out a hearty guffaw. "I knew it! I mean, why else would he have brought you aboard?"
"Right." A pained smile struggled to break through his previous nervous scowl "But I don't know if we should be using it willy nilly."
"Willy Nilly?" Her eyes grew larger from the words, clearly confused by them. "What does that mean?"
He rubbed the temples of his forehead slowly. "You know, frivolously? Like using it for little to no reason?"
"But we have a reason." She sat back down and leaned in, placing her forearms upon the table, looking intently at his right arm. "They could be in trouble or may need some of that tactical genius you have."
Jared thought for a second before turning his right hand over. Shepard had given him this for a reason, he had put trust in Jared, and he wanted to make sure it wasn't misplaced. He laid his arm flat on the table, angled in toward himself slightly to hide as much of it as he could from Ashley. Carefully, he flexed the muscles in his hand and upper bicep causing the orange hologram to appear effortlessly above his palm. He glanced back up at Ashley who flashed the same irreverent smile from before, egging him on silently. His left hand pressed on the interface while tiny mass effect fields simulated tactile feel, after a bit of fumbling, the radio opened as a bright transmit button blinked intermittently in front of him. He breathed deeply through his nose as stale air filled his lungs, the reprocessed taste becoming more familiar to him every second he spent aboard the Normandy. After letting the oxygen circulate, he exhaled, pressing down the transmit button instinctively.
The Mako's tires crunched the scattered maroon rocks that had been forced upon the path by large lava plumes that erupted from a nearby magma pool. The three had been driving for a bit under fifteen minutes, with very little to show for it. A large path had been carved out from the rolling hills that flanked it, which had made the drive much smoother than the descent. Constructed metal pipes followed the same path, supposedly the ones that provided the scientific stations with the materials they required, the only sign that the group was headed the right way.
Shepard glanced over the displays, making micro-adjustments that kept the vehicle from blaring warning claxons throughout the cramped space.
"Any sign of, well, anything?" Garrus asked. His arms rested behind his head, supporting it from falling over as the Mako rose over the small humps in the path.
Shepard squinted down the holographic display and simply shrugged. "Nothing except the pipe and the road. Lava seems to be calming down a bit." The massive oceans of magma were completely new to Shepard, something he had never seen on the countless worlds he visited on his tours of duty. When they landed, the lava spouts erupted from large pustules that boiled over the surface, which caused the Mako to throw environmental warnings their way. The further they had gone however, the more the blazing sea of blood orange had calmed, with only small pockets of bubbles here and there. Shepard kept an eye out for environmental field dampeners near the rocky crimson shore but had yet to see any.
"Maybe it's a sign of a more habitable area?" Tali added, leaning over her seat to observe the displays fully. "The scientists' encampment could be nearby."
Shepard shook his head, his eyes beginning to strain from the holograms. "Could be. Our sensors had trouble picking up an exact location but we're well within the range it gave us."
A brief moment of silence passed over the cockpit, as if each inhabitant expected something to jump out on the horizon or a sudden earthquake that accompanied a hidden bunker rising to the surface. Yet, the displays remained unchanging, showcasing the same harsh environment pockmarked with signs of sparse inhabitance.
As if on cue, Shepard's comm channel opened up with slight interference. "She….pard…Shepard? Are you there?" The quiet voice of Jared came in, coupled with great static interference that produced odd mechanical audio.
The noise made him jump in his seat, before the safety harness around him forcefully kept him in place. Shepard quickly shot a look back at the two behind him before answering. Tali seemed too enamored with the Mako's mechanisms to pay attention as she suddenly pulled one of her three fingers back after fiddling with a non-essential interface. Beneath her helmet, the white dots of her eyes seemed to open bewilderingly at each new apparatus she came across, excited by its function within the giant machine, the sight made an unconscious smile spread across his face. Garrus was quite the opposite of Tali, he was actively trying to keep himself awake as the Mako moved along. The semi-rough rolling of the military vehicle seemed comforting to the Turian, the lids of his avian eyes drooping with each mile they traveled.
Shepard turned back to the command console and punched in a quick sequence, suddenly, the noise dampener field surrounding the mechanical beast split into two, separating the driver from the two passengers. He flashed the Omni-tool on his suit's interface and keyed into the frequency he gave to Jared prior. The interference began to peter out as an automatic replay function was called, repeating what Jared had said in more crisp quality.
"Shepard, are you there?" The replay echoed, almost sounding unsure of itself.
Shepard re-gripped the steering wheel, the faux leather lining it conforming to the shape of his hand once more. "I'm here Jared, did you get a fee…"
"Uh, so I have Ashley here!" Jared quickly interjected, cutting Shepard off. "She was asking me if you needed any of my TACTICAL GENIUS." He greatly emphasized the last words.
Dammit, what has this kid done now?
Shepard sighed. "Yeah, sure, we're currently following a material pipeline and hoping it'll end at the digsite, no sign of anything dangerous yet. What do you think?"
There was a long pause and Shepard could hear the interference begin to slowly creep back in before Jared cut back in. "I can imagine there being a Geth presence down there. Benezia most likely kept tabs on her daughter and, after everything that's happened, I could see her believing the Alliance might try and target Liara."
The audio transmat cut off once more, though now Shepard could make out muffled discussion among the garbled static. After a few seconds, he heard Jared once more. "Take that a step further, it's not too unlikely that she convinced Saren to dispatch a Geth force there. I would just remain alert."
Before the end of Jared's transmission could break through, a warbled crack echoed above the Mako. Shepard merged the sound dampener field just in time to hear the exclamations of Garrus and Tali. The Mako's displays began to show small, gray, arachnid like shapes dotting the crimson skyline, a small blue haze of mass effect fields in their wake. They froze in place among the upper echelons of the atmosphere, giving time for the Mako's optics to focus on what they truly were: Geth Dropships. The ships coasted down from the sky, as if unfettered by the gravitational forces of the planet, and rested weightlessly several hundred feet above the relatively small Mako. Large apertures on the sides of their metal thoraxes began to open, revealing messes of steel, rubber, and wires that churned slowly amidst bright LEDs and massive power sources. As if a cattle giving birth, bundles of the mess fell limply out of the holes before contouring themselves into four legged beasts upon hitting the dirt, the only part visible through the red dust being vivid lights in place of their heads.
These were Geth, but unlike any Shepard had seen before. His gaze steeled as his hands clutched the wheel. "Too late, they're already here."
