Mass Effect and characters do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: It's been a while but I have been quite busy recently, so here is another chapter! I realize that these few chapters do in fact deviate from the actual game, though I wanted a wider berth than strictly following a more linear foundation than what was represented in the game.

On another note, thank you everyone for the reviews. A few criticism is much needed for me as I know I needed to improve upon a few areas in my writing. Hopefully this chapter shows it. Also a warning for some violence and mild language! Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 11 — All Rounds Expended (Storming Rannoch Part II)

"Doctor T'Soni." A whispered voice called out for the Asari woman who had her back turned and her eyes focused on the task of her omni-tool. She didn't look at first, her attention narrowed by the task and her fingers dancing with a paced rhythm that matched her thoughts.

It was only then did the warmth of a hand curiously brought her out of the trance. Lured eyes traced their careful gaze to the person who sought her attention, good manners hammered in at a young age prompted a smile about the Asari woman, sharing her teeth and a dimple or two on the side of her cheeks. When she finally turned to face the person, her first words were, "Yes?"

A Turian, no taller than five foot nine stood before her, mandibles twitching against a smile that grained with their 'lips'. "Hello Doctor, here is your permit for Area 435 as you requested." He handed her the permit chip with Liara promptly nodding to him in thanks.

Raising the chip into the light, she could not believe that she managed to get a permit! Her doubts erased and the lacking enthusiasm returned as she slid the chip into one of her many pockets. "Now," she said, grinning with glee. "I should see about hiring someone to take me there."

The crowded market didn't exactly allow for complete privacy. Even now as she looked about to find herself amongst a sea of strange and colorful faces. Each with their own personal problems and business that was attended with at brisk pace. Her fingers slipped into one of her pockets of the brown rustic colored dust jacket as she begin her walk down the plaza.

Her eyes became distant with mild curiosity, looking about the various items for display and on sale. One could see the many races that had not joined the Council. Particularly that of Batarians who were equally feared in the Terminus Systems were as peaceful as ever here. Walking amongst them, she did not feel threatened by leering eyes or suspicious looks. Instead, Liara was welcomed with many hellos and few hateful speeches about her and the skin she was born into.

Making her way across the markets, she spotted a strange object suspended in the air. It was spherical in shape and imperfect. For whatever reason, her muscles did not avoid to grant her wishes to look.

Standing before the object, she noticed it spinning above a small platform that allowed for it to stay in the air. The merchant who stood by was already dealing with another customer, his brain not registering that of Liara whose analytical brain questioned the object.

She tilted her head and her lips puckered, a finger lifted and drew close to the spherical object. The edge of her finger gently made contact with the object and when she did, an electrical pulse shot up through her arm to which she reactively jerked her finger away.

"Ow!" Wincing with pain, Liara smirked at the resulting consequences of her curiosity.

The object however begun to spin, first slowly then when she blinked, it grew in speed. The imperfect material of the object steadily eroded into a more perfected shape. Raising a concern for the object and hoping she didn't accidentally break it, she turned to the owner. Only, he wasn't there.

No one was.

She turned, her face drawing great concern as she looked about widely with worry. The streets were empty and the voices of great chatter had vanished.

"What's going on?" She asked to anyone who was in earshot of her. There wasn't a response… except for the device that she turned her back to.

Her gaze narrowed, her vision becoming ever more clear and present as she looked into the spinning sphere. The sun gleamed off the now smooth surface with a flint of glare causing Liara to hesitate to look directly at it. For several seconds, she was aware of the strange warmth crawling up the length of her arm; the same arm she used to touch the object earlier. Oddly, the feeling faded in mere seconds, allowing her attention and questioning thoughts to abode of the spherical object before her.

To her astonishment, the reflection in the sphere gave way to a blurring figure. However it was that not of her own shape. Tentatively, she raised a finger and stretched out on a quest to taste the object once more with the pad of her finger. The closer her finger came to the object, the more she could see the figure becoming something else. Someone else.

With a gentle touch, the sphere suddenly stopped. The figure in the reflection also seem to match Liara's head movements and twitching muscles of fascination.

"What is… happening?" Her voice trailed, her thoughts impaired by a sudden attractive look in the perfect shape of the sphere. Her mind became clouded, her arm that she touched the sphere with ached with pain, causing her to wince at the pulsing pain throbbing up the arm and shoulder.

The figure meanwhile was no longer matching her movements. A truly strange phenomenon that caught the Doctor's attention as she stood there cradling her arm. Her educated mind could not debunk what exactly was going on, outside from possibly taking a hallucinogenic drug to death.

Though how could it be both when the pain was too real? She looked to her arm and found the purple substance covering her forearm. "What?" She breathed and ran a finger against the blood. It was warm to the touch.

Without noticing it, the sphere suddenly began to move counter-clock wise. Her head flew back and her eyes widen at the sight. She swiveled her head about, her lips curling with frustration and fear. "What is going on? I demand an answer!" She cried out, side stepping away from the sphere.

The answers she sought would soon be answered by a familiar voice. "Liara."

The Doctor spun about, her hand instinctively hovering over the omni-tool that evolved out from her unharmed arm. "Who is that?" She asked, her eyes frantically darting everywhere but they fell back on the sphere rotating in front of her.

"Liara." It spoke again, the voice deeper and louder.

"Come out!" She raised the omni-tooled arm, prepared to give a neural shock that would paralyze her enemies temporarily.

"Get up." The voice commanded with her now gazing at the sphere. The figure in the reflection was blurry again but with one step and an inch closer, Liara notice something strange.

A tattooed brow furrowed with her lip synching in confusion. The figure's identity was slowly becoming clear. "Who… who are you?" She asked.

Her question did not hear of an answer as she gazed attentively to the sphere. The shadowed figure, hidden amongst the rotating glare of the sun had surfaced. It was her mother - Benezia. "Mo-mother?"

A hellish shriek pierced her ears, forcing her to jerk herself away from the sphere as the pain returned full force.

She stumbled to the ground, her arm flailing to the side and her head laying over, the warm blood oozing casually from her nose, trickling down aside her lips and onto the soft dirt that caught her fallen body.

"GET UP LIARA." The scream and the high pitching wailing collided to which Liara felt forced the lids of her eyes to close.

Both lids flew open, revealing a metallic world above her. The lungs beneath her chest resurrected again with air as she flew her arms above to catch the crashing iron world.

The Geth trooper who believed according to its parameters and coding was advised to kill weakened opponents. It however did not see this event coming and drew the ocular lens down to find the Asari female was alive. An electronic whine fleeted out from the Geth's head then went about with another commanded program. It lowered it's weapon directly over Liara's face with the digit finger sliding into the folding of the trigger guard.

Seeing this, Liara acted with hostile intentions. Her arm drew beneath the leg then curved at the ankle of the leg. The familiar wisp of biotics flared around her balling fist before ramming it into the ankle of the Geth. Hearing the satisfying crack of metal under her knuckles, she then gripped the wires that weaved around the cabling beam before yanking it out with brute force. Gray goo slithered down along the fine plating of Liara's greave, exposing the 'blood' of this machine to the existing world. The Geth received the immediate diagnosis of the problem and found that its bipedal state would no longer be functioning as it faltered back to the earth.

"Tali! Look!" Garrus thrusted a finger to the conscious Liara beside the crater that was made for her. The Quarian engineer huffed and grinned beneath her visor as she picked a clear shot at the Geth falling back. The head exploded to a joyful resolution on Liara's end. "Bosh'tet!"

Waving to Liara, Garrus hoped to gain the good Doctor's attention before the next wave would over run her. "Liara! Get over here!" He shouted urgently.

Groaning with pain, she rolled over onto her good arm and glanced up at the walls that impounded her body from moving much further. Voices were calling out, names of her birth name frantically yelled for her attention; something Liara could only guess that it was Garrus.

Another Geth peered out from cover and aimed for the belly up Asari with its assault rifle. A mistake that the Quarian commando notice and took immediate aim. With one pull, the Geth lost more than its head. The report shocked Liara to push herself off from the ground, only now the earth was spinning a thousand degrees around her.

"She's not going to make it." Tali echoed the very thoughts that hammered in on Garrus. Pulling out his pistol, he vaulted over from cover.

The Turian sharpshooter didn't have enough air to expended on a order that was already working to the Quarian's. To a symphony of gunfire, the remaining commandos and Tali gave Garrus the much needed covering fire. The Geth saw this as an act of foolishness and reacted harshly by firing blindly at the running Turian.

Dirt, grass and hell was shaking Garrus's world as he dodged the fiery blue streaks that were meant for him. Ducking his head underneath Liara's armpit, he helped her to the weakened feet that did not support the woman fully. "I got you Liara." The reassuring turians small talk meant only little to Liara who was trying to regain her bearings in the middle of a firefight.

Tali noticed a sharpshooter perched on a canyon wall, close by the arched halls of the valley that they had left for earlier. To her disappointment and cursing, she had no weapon that could deal with the range and distance. The two commando's however were lucky enough to bring an rifle with a scope. He too noticed the shooter and aimed.

Hammered poundings could be felt across his back, the shielding was becoming weak at a quick rate. He was exposed and Garrus knew it. Without an option, Garrus turned about face and push Liara into the direction that was closest to their line. The pistol that drew rang out shots, one for the Geth taking pot shots at him and another that was prepared to toss an explosive fragmentation grenade. The monocle headset set up the perfect shot for the Turian and with one pull, that Geth lost a hand along with that brilliant idea of the grenade. A primeval sound of chaos erupted around the Geth who carried the grenade as dirt and chunks of metal flew in a multitude of directions.

To Garrus's brief bliss, another squad of more Geth emerged from the cloud of mayhem and misery with their weapons at the ready.

Plate burrowing in annoyance, he clipped by the frame of the weapon and injected another tubing of a thermal clip. "Assholes!"

One Geth seemingly caught the friendly insult and aimed for the Turian. The rifle carried by the trooper was a Geth rifle, easily distinguishable by the rotund shape of the frame. The first few shots struck against the hardened shielding of his armor, causing Garrus to stumble a bit back.

Any other species (aside from the Krogan of course) would've had the air knocked out of them, but Garrus looked straight at his target and grinned as he took aim and fired two shots. The first shot disabled the shields with the second one sounded to Garrus's hymn of violence with grey matter exploding gloriously in the air.

Tali meanwhile was madly padding down Liara in search for wounds. The battle armor she wore protected her from the most brutal of shots by the Armature. If it was a direct hit however, their friend Liara would have been vaporized from the torso up. A gruesome way to die that Tali at the moment was not even thinking about.

The Asari doctor however tried to quell any doubts in the Quarian woman's mind about any injuries. "I'm fine." She assured with her hand firmly interjecting between Tali's frantic search for wounds.

"No you're not!" She retorted, pushing the blue hand away. "You're bleeding from your arm, the armor plating is loose and it appears to be a serious wound." Her fast talking was muffled by the riotous roar of gunfire from all around, how she was still able to hear Tali was nothing less of a miracle, considering all things that everything sounded muffled now.

"Get over here you Bosh'tet!" One of the Quarian commandos yelled for Garrus. Supporting fire was only making a dent at the reinforcing Geth and Garrus was not going to last long against the hail of bullets charging at him in the form of a thousand streaking arrows.

Hearing the obvious advice, Garrus fired a few more shots before running back behind cover and next to Tali.

"Are you all right, Liara?" The concerning Turian asked with his eyes never leaving the Geth encroaching on their line.

"Yes, I am." Liara spoke affirmatively. "Tali, please, I am okay." Seeing that she would not be able to see the extent of the wound while under fire, Tali shrugged herself away from Liara and gave her an approving nod. "Fine."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but how are we going to get out of here?" The Quarian commando asked as he snuck in behind cover again.

Liara looked over, wondering what they have done with the tower. "Did we disable the tower?"

The Quarian male nodded, "yes ma'am."

That was all she had to hear, smiling to him, she shared a couple of passive-aggressive words that motivated the remaining commandos to stay alive. "We hold."

"And this is where we look like a pair of damn heroes!" Garrus thought aloud, dragging the sniper rifle out from the magnetic holster of his armor. Tali huffed and recycled a new thermal clip into her weapon as the commandos nodded in agreement to eachother.

The setting of the sun did not snuff out the light, across the unique mountain formations, Rannoch was set ablaze with fire. Streaks of blue and red intermingled, striking hard against solid impenetrable surfaces as whining screams of Geth fell to the earth; their last cry of this world was that of error or malfunction. Above the huddled squad, the Normandy was standing by, stealth drives operational and in orbit around Rannoch.

Scuffling feet marched and paced in and around the CIC, faces etched with a stoicism that matched the professional value that the Alliance were known for under the heat of war. Words were exchanged and hands were gestured, giving orders to the next command that went down from the second in command of the Normandy.

In the war room, Admiral Shala'Raan was speaking with the Admiral who took over fleet operations at Rannoch. Her visor hid the true face that drew out fangs, lustful for blood as she shoved her hand at the holographic figure of Admiral Han'Gerrel. "You need to pull back the Heavy Fleet now! We can disable the Geth with precision, not with the cost of more quarians!"

He shrugged the authoritative order, finding that he was well within his right to hold ground.

"This is our Homeworld, not the humans and certainly not the Geth! Our means of winning this war is by defeating the Geth head strong."

Han'Gerrel was the more troublesome Quarian who found his way to the top of the Admiralty board. Ever since the incident near the Turian border, he had be the more hotheaded figure who strives for violence instead of peace, even with other species. His saying was: If no one will understand a Quarian, then we will make them understand.

A page ripped straight from the manifest of the krogans. The downside to that manifest was that the quarians were not the most suitable in fighting. No less against Reapers.

"You're not understanding it, Gerrel." Shala'Raan argued, her legs taking her around the circular holographic display table with a mean spirit. "We have people down there in the process of disabling anti-aircraft batteries. This will give us a chance to send in reinforcements and take out the communication hub."

It was a sound plan, even with the Normandy stealth drives on, AA towers manned by Geth would see the ship flying. No use for targeting systems. That was why she agreed with Shepard in disabling the towers, allowing them to move in and disable the communication tower. The tower was a vital construct that used Reaper technology, it was one more reason Shepard was inclined to join this fight. One more reason to remove the Reapers from this conflict.

Waving a passive hand, the Admiral didn't see it her way. In fact, he believed that she was being tricked by that Geth oddity called Legion. "You do not see it Shala'Raan! It is trying to fool you into believing you have a chance to win."

She didn't know Legion all to well to trust it. But Tali did and so did most of the crew of the Normandy. How could she turn her back now when Shepard himself had put aside his own Homeworld in his efforts to save theirs?

"When you have your back turn, it will betray you in less than a nano-second. Are you willing to place that much trust. The trust of the Migrant Fleet in the hands of a Geth?"

"Right now, I would rather trust it than you!" Cursing beneath her breath, she hovered her head over the console, threatening to disconnect the arguably annoying Admiral. If only she didn't hold back when Han'Gerrel raised his arms in support of his defense.

"Wait!" A desperate Admiral shouted. "Just wait."

Admiral Shala'Raan tilted the omni-illuminated tool slightly as she stood by, wondering what he wanted to say.

The defeated Gerrel looked down, stubbornly chewing at his lips beneath the visor that hid much but little of the eyes that shot up back to Raan. "If you think it can be done."

Shala'Raan argued with an affirmative nod. "They can get it done."

Gerrel tilted his head, not wishing to get in with another argument with Raan. It was enough that his view on attacking the Geth had become a futile debate amongst many of the Admirals. It would be even more distressing if he decided to put personal pride ahead of surviving this war. "Very well." He agreed, defeat echoing in his tone.

"I will pull back the heavy fleet, they will protect the civilian fleet."

There was a heed of warning that followed up with his agreement. Flicking a standing finger in defiance, he warned her of what would happen should Shepard fail. "Remember Raan. If he loses, we will lose nearly third of our Migrant Fleet. The consequences will be on you."

It was a gamble. A large gamble at that. Even Admiral Shala'Raan was taken a bit by the ever so defensive Gerrel. Yet as she looked at the holographic representation of the man, she could see he was willing to put aside his differences in favor of the fleet.

But that also meant placing trust in an alien named Shepard and a Geth named Legion.

Could she trust them? She trusted Shepard so far but not the same way she did with Legion.

Was it a flaw? A fault of her own to place her trust in a Human? Even at that, Han'Gerrel was willing, if anything, placing much of the Quarian fleet in the hands of an alien.

Before this war, before the Reapers. She did not hear about this Shepard. This first Human Spectre. She believed as every other Quarian believed about these species that Shepard was born into were naïve about the galaxy. Stubborn as the Krogan. She had never met a Human before until Shepard showed up personally in support of Tali during the trial hearings.

He was modest and very polite. He didn't look down upon the quarians as the filth at the bottom of one's boot, vagrants ready to steal their next meal. What she saw in that Human allowed for her to tear down the prejudice walls that she had about them. Over the course of months leading to the Reaper invasion, Tali had much to talk about Shepard.

She would say he was the man who saved her more than once. Numerous times where he had placed himself in danger in an effort to save hers. Even when he joined Cerberus, he refuse to acknowledge he was Cerberus. He was a man with no affiliation but his own. He even rejected Spectre status from the Council when they offered it to him.

One day, she asked Tali why this man was special to her. The Quarian engineer shrugged but smiled beneath her mask. "Shepard did more for me and everyone than the Council could have done in a hundred years."

She quipped that he is just one man. Tali responded politely, not finding any offense with the Admiral's statement about the Commander. "He is one man," she agreed.

"And that is all we need." The image of Liara flickered again, finishing Tali's sentence as her face drew to her unknown audience before her.

"Tali told me that story when she joined the Normandy. She held a lot of faith in Shepard and what reason should she not? He bailed her out from certain exile, upheld the honor of her father and saved her countless of times during our missions."

Shuffling her hands together, Liara was reminded again as to why the Galaxy needed a person like Shepard. She did not know at the time whether or not they would live to see another sunrise on their respective homeworlds. To eat and sleep again as they did before the invasion. Fear was the common infection that spread like a wildfire from star port to star port. Countless of thousands saw only death in the Reapers, not salvation or freedom.

"Shepard saw himself not as a hero. He did not see himself as a symbol." Quietly, the Asari doctor shook her head. "He was a soldier. He fought to protect those he cared for. He fought for his homeworld and he fought for us."

A slow nod rose out from the gentle shaking of the head, seeing the image of Shepard in her mind. "When the Galaxy was divided, he was there to unite us all. He doesn't know it, but Shepard…." her eyes trailed away from the recording capsule, her voice followed. A faint whisper of the Commander's name was barely audible to the audience below.

"Without him," she added, fingers cupping her chin for support. "This war would have gone very differently."

Bringing her gaze back, she curled a smile to the audience, knowing that if they did not succeed in this cycle, they will now in the next. "I am not saying that you need a Shepard like we did. No."

She knew that what they needed was far from Shepard or even the Crucible itself. Adjusting herself on the chair, Liara then leaned in, her face etched with a more serious tone as she ran her lips together. "Just be united when the time comes."

The soft round cheeks fell only against the slight curve of a frown, dissolving the gravity of her more stoic possession of her emotions. "It is a shame we did not come together when the time had come. I hope… we are not too late."

"My last clip!" Tali's voice rang out through the shattering volume of gunfire as she tossed one of her last remaining thermal clips over to the Quarian commando. The Commando snatched it out from the sky and inserted the clip into his rifle, cycling the cylinder to accept the newly injected thermal clip.

Garrus fired his own last round from his sniper rifle, the recoil of the weapon jumped slightly in his hand but held it still as he looked through the scope. More were still coming.

"They are not pulling back." Their situation was growing dire by the second. Liara knew that much from the look Garrus was giving her behind the collar of his armor. They couldn't give up now. Not now that they were this close.

Snarling at her weapon, she kicked in a new thermal clip and popped out from cover to fire a few more rounds at the encroaching Geth troopers. Each shot echoed with a kick of the rifle, a cacophony of sounds sang to the song of violence as the projectiles themselves exploded out from the muzzle of the rifle with fierce velocity.

The skirmish must have lasted over thirty minutes, their time here was waning desperately and Liara was growing weary of their survival odds. Even now, she looked up in hopes that Steve - the Kodiak pilot - would swoop down and save them all.

For all she knew, the situation had gone to hell above them and Shepard could have died. A pessimistic thought that Liara never gave in to think about as she pulled hard on the trigger and unleashed a volley of burst rounds into one of the Spitfire Geth soldiers.

The Armature that was briefly disabled by a rocket attack was being repaired by several Geth engineers in an attempt to bolster their attack on the remaining enemies. When Liara was providing cover with her biotic shield, the shot from the Armature's pulse cannon had thrown her across the field, knocking her unconscious and wounded. Garrus managed to get a clean shot at ocular head in hopes that it would send it in a dizzying frenzy of confusion.

Seeing it lying in a pile of metal made Garrus believe it was down for good. But that wasn't so now that the Geth engineers were repairing it in a rush.

"We need to take out those engineers!" The hard-boiled Quarian engineer advice, firing a few pot shots at the engineers, failing to hit any of them.

Garrus nodded and holstered his sniper rifle in exchange for a Predator pistol. It was a good decent pistol, used widely across the Galaxy. The only downside was it's lack of punch against Geth.

It didn't matter though when the odds were against you. Not even for Turian who tried to get a clear shot at the engineers. The other Geth were making it near impossible to pull out from cover to fire with aim. Everyone were firing blindly at the Geth, hitting one or two with luck rather than actual skill.

Cursing beneath her breath, Liara could feel the heat of the Geth slowly coming towards their line of defense. If that line broke, there was no telling how they could get out of this one alive.

Reaching out to tug on Garrus's shoulder, Liara hoped to get an answer out from the Turian who was far too busy wasting ammo than killing anything. "Did you get a hold of Shepard?"

The Turian looked to her calmly, a void that she only saw once in the turians face before. The mandibles of either side of his face twitched as he said, "I can't reach him."

The Asari doctor looked on with a defeated gaze, the tattoo brows over the outlets of her eyes furrowed together; was this the end?

She flicked her weapon over the railing of the cover, firing burst rounds at the Geth. The action that was displayed prompted Garrus to do the same, hoping in the best of hopes that they could evacuate from here before they were overrun.

An explosion echoed across, shocking Liara out from the lulling state of mind as she pinned herself against the eroding cover. Garrus, Tali and the remaining Quarian commandos were opening firing, their efforts proving futile against the overwhelming waves of Geth.

Ejecting the overheated cylindrical clip, she then padded over her hip at the munitions pockets that were strapped around. Her fingers flipped over the protective sheath, sliding in to the pocket in hopes of finding a fresh clip.

She was empty.

"I'm out!" She shouted, turning a worried look to Garrus who kneeled down just as several shots streaked across just above the fringes of his skull.

He looked to her and shook his head, he was out too.

When Tali's last rounds were all but expended, she resorted to using her drone and draining the Geth's shields in hopes that it would be enough for her drone to strike at them. The Quarian commandos themselves were in not in any easier spot as they were.

As it was, the battle was turning against them.

The Armature had picked itself up, thanks in part by the Geth engineers who repaired its onboard systems. The only thing they couldn't repair was the damaged leg. Which was a good thing as it couldn't cover much ground. The bad thing was that it's pulse canon was going to knock them out from cover.

Liara scanned from the protective covering of the metallic walls, hoping to get an advantage with her biotics to cause some havoc, a tactic to buy as much time as possible. She dropped the weapon in exchange for her naked fists that balled with flaring purple biotics. The biotics webbed around her arm excitedly as her eyes narrowed in on a specific target; the Geth Spitfire.

With one shot, a biotic reave ripped the Geth apart, causing a chaotic explosion that caught the attention however briefly of the troopers. The napalm chemical built inside the chamber of the flame throwing weapon spat out like rich venom, coating several of the troopers in the clear gathering. Seeing the opportunity, Garrus took aim with his Predator and fired two shots which flinted the napalm chemical into brilliant flames.

It wasn't much from where Liara was crouched. Seeing the troopers dance to the flames chewing at their armor was just enough for Garrus to take shots at them while they weren't shooting. Each of the Geth fell one by one in accordance to the report of the turians pistol.

The Quarian sniggered at the sight, knowing full well these Geth were going to lose a lot more against the remaining four organics. Yet as many of them saw it, the Geth were not retreating. Nor were they simply going to give up.

Annoyed by how this battle was turning, Liara pinned her back behind cover and looked to her omni-tool for suggestions.

There had to be a way out of here, a fleeting thought insisted.

The doctor struggled with her jaw clenched and fingers pouncing the orange set tool of her forearm. Each tap was met with a resounding and definitive negative response. There was no clear route to escape and the possibility of dying was growing by each second.

The blood from her arm had slowly soaked most of the shoulder and forearm plates; small droplets of purple blood dripping quietly against the backdrop of primeval cries and hissing whines of electronics.

Pulse rounds slammed into the earth, kicking up dirt and chocking it in every which direction, reminding those of their imminent demise. By now, no one was shooting. Liara looked from her omni-tool to find the Turian sharpshooter, the Quarian female engineer and the Quarian Commandos had resorted to using their omni-tools in an attempt to hold what little was left of their defenses.

The Geth's intentions were to root out the remaining organics, including the creators. This was a fight that will be fought inch by inch if need be, and none of them; including Liara could see that this fight will end as easily as any one hoped.

Clutching at Garrus's collar, she brought the taut nerved Turian down to her level. Their eyes made contact and she drew her finger off to the rear of their position. "If we need to pull back, this will be the last line of defense against the Geth!"

Garrus flinched at the thought of retreating more but what choice were the Geth giving them? "We're out of ammo, Liara! We will be forced to fight with our fists." Garrus delivered the line apathetically, detached by the sense of their soon to come demise. He was acting on adrenaline, instinct of one's will to continue pushing even if death was staring them down.

Of course, Garrus was also trying to draw out another problem to their currently ever eroding situation. No ammo meant no way to attack the Geth properly. This prompted Liara to smirk before rightly correcting the Turian. "Then we will use biotics, hacks. Whatever we have!"

Garrus wasn't stunned by the quick thinking Liara. In fact, he was more impressed by how fast she matured on the field of battle. Before, he would have been hesitant to give any room for her to handle a weapon. No less lead a squad of her own. Yet as countless skirmishes and missions have shown, Liara was a proven fighter.

But that didn't mean that she could give them out in one piece. Without an evac from the peninsula, they might as well consider themselves dead. Thankfully, Liara refused the idea of death.

Releasing her grip on his collar, she joined the rest of her squad on the fight. Persistent and ever vigilant of staying alive. That was their priority now.

As minutes passed and seconds faded into the backdrop of fallen limbs of metallic construction, so did the strength of Razor squad. Tali's suit was punctured numerous of times by shrapnel and her suit was barely managing to keep the Quarian alive. The remaining Quarian commandos also fell prey to the flaws of their suit.

Garrus and Liara however were blessed to have been born on other worlds but they themselves were no better off. Liara was hindered by her wounds, having to resort to her omni-tool in shocking some of the Geth that were flanking and having Garrus finish them off with a quick saw of his omni-blade.

One of the Geth troopers however managed to out flank their defenses to get close enough to draw up its weapon to Tali. She was busy mentoring to one of the Commandos' about using a combat drone, not realizing the Geth trooper was standing just inches away. Liara caught the sight of gun-metal gray against the twilight evening and tried to stop the act of violence against the unbeknownst Quarian engineer.

Struggling to raise her arm in defense with purple flaring biotics, Liara was too far to stop the Geth from firing on Tali. Even spoken words were useless when Tali herself saw the shadow hovering over her, flicking her head to the Geth, she looked down the barrel of the pulse rifle.

Tali was sure to herself that she was seeing her death coming to life, as her eyes closed and her heart solemnly slowed to a easier pace, Tali braced for a quick swift death.

A distorted shriek pierced the atmosphere, causing those with hears to flinch at the white burst sight.

"Holy Sh-" A delirious Garrus said out loud who was hunkered down next to Liara.

It was no hallucination that what they saw was Shepard manning the door gun of the Kodiak, firing furiously into the Geth who were being trampled by projectiles. Limbs ripped apart, torsos and heads exploded with gray matter joyously spraying in all directions.

The holographic representation of Liara smiled, her brow furrowing and her finger tapping gently to the tune of the weapon that fired repeatedly into the Geth army below.

Shepard, bloodied and pissed, kept both fingers clutched against the trigger as the recoil unleashed a plethora of anti-material rounds into the Geth. The Armature however was standing just feet away from the onslaught and aimed its pulse cannon directly at the Kodiak.

Tali - the Quarian engineer of the squad - promptly went to work on the Armature. The omni-tool of her forearm cascaded across, allowing for the female Quarian to tap her eager fingers to send a virus to the Geth Armature to which it had stunned it momentarily.

The confusion of its targeting system made the Armature look drunk, stumbling on its remaining working legs before eradicating the creator virus from its systems. By the time it did get a good target on the organic vessel floating in the air, it was looking directly down the barrel of the door gun.

Shepard held down the trigger long enough for the projectile bullets to rip the Armature's ocular head right off, leaving only a smirking grin to replace the disdain look on the Commander when the deed was done.

When the smoke had cleared and the violence had ceased, the Kodiak that was piloted by Steve Cortez began its landing procedures on the peninsula. Liara was the first to make her way to the vessel as Shepard himself stepped out with a weapon at the ready.

"All clear?" He asked, eyes dancing about the area.

Liara nodded with her thumb pointing south of her of the Geth mess Shepard created. "That was all of them."

Garrus, Tali and the remaining Quarian commandos who were pulling each other up made their way to the Kodiak. Shepard could see it on their faces that they've went through some hell here, not that he could guess it was any worse than what he was dished with.

"Good, we need to move."

Liara agreed, she found Rannoch to be a nice vacation spot, if only the Geth were here in such numbers as she battled against. "We have one casualty." She said, flicking her gaze over to one of the remaining Commandos who were helped aboard the Kodiak. "One of the Quarian commandos died, and I believe several of us are wounded."

He grimaced when he heard of the first KIA of the evening, finding that it was never easy to know you lost one under your command. Shepard eased himself closer to Liara and offered out a hand of sympathy to her.

"You did good, Liara."

She peeled her eyes to him, wishing to know what they did here was worth the price. "I could have done better."

It wasn't less than a moment after that Legion decided to interrupt the couple by interceding with a reminder.

"Shepard Commander,"

"Yes, Legion?"

"It is strongly recommended that we leave this area. The Geth will return to repair the anti-aircraft batteries. I have offered the pilot Steve to target the weak points of the tower with the Kodiak weapons to permanently disable them."

That was their cue. Liara half-heartedly smiled to Shepard when the man returned his attention to her, but their talk would be put in the back burner for now as they holstered their weapons and returned back into the Kodiak.

Liara took a seat next to Tali and left no words to dispel the stress of the adrenaline that has cumulated. Not that she could see to share a few words with the Quarian female as she was busy patching herself up. She knew that minor inflictions of Quarian environmental suits took a lot out of them to repair. If left untreated, then it was to be said that she was out of the game.

It was best that she relayed her thoughts elsewhere, preferably to herself in silence.

Binding her fingers together, Liara kneeled her head and licked the dry cracked lips, eager to seek water to quench her thirst.

Shepard who was holding with one hand of the ceiling handles looked to find the Asari doctor reclusive in her spot. She had ignored the world within the Kodiak, even the blood that trickled out silently in tune from her forearm plates. It was as though she no longer cared what had happened to her, despite a successful mission.

He tilted his head to one side and let go of the handles to make his way over to her. "Liara?"

Her thoughts were transfixed on the metal plating beneath her soles. Words from beyond her cranial ear were left unheard until she felt the warmth of a hand firmly laying on her shoulder. "Liara, are you okay?"

She looked up, a pseudo smile residing over the pale palette of blue. "Yes, I am."

A lie. But a lie that was meant to quell any worries for Shepard. This mission was not about her, never was. It was about giving Rannoch back to the Quarian people like Tali.

Yet, despite the lie, Liara kept a steady gaze on Shepard who was no reluctant to hand her a bottle of water. "Here, drink."

She stared at the bottle for several seconds then took it from his hands to which she began to unscrew the top. The water tantalized the Asari as she heard the liquid dance inside, swishing as her hand moved the bottle accordingly. She didn't want to look desperate in drinking the water but when she tilted it to her lips, the water had introduced Liara to whole other level of need. The smooth cool water was welcoming for her mouth, she couldn't remember the last time she even had water in her system. The battle, it felt, took several hours from her life. All those memories, those moments in time. They would never be lost to her.

Just as she never forgot every other missions. It was another scar that was etched into her back since she joined Shepard on this voyage to cleanse the galaxy of Reapers. When will it end - if ever?

When she finished, she handed the bottle back to Shepard who raised his palm and shook his head at the return of the water bottle. "No, keep it." He insisted.

"You sure?" She asked quietly, fingers tapping against the metal rim of the bottle.

"Yes."

Pointing to instead of her wounded arm, Shepard insisted that he check it out.

She gave a weary look then nodded. Pulling herself up against the seat, she put aside the bottle then lifted her arm high enough for Shepard to take hold of gently. His finger ran along the seams of the armor before gliding up north of the forearm. He could see the purple substance of blood had dried up while more of it was still dripping near her underarm.

"Can you take this part off?"

She didn't bother to answer verbally, instead she placed a firm finger on a latch that was hidden from view before tugging on it. With a reaffirming click, the armor hitched and was pulled apart by her hand, leaving only the arm to be exposed to the world once again.

What Shepard saw as the armor plate was peeled away was a wound deep enough that it may have reached to her bone. How she didn't feel pain was astounding, granted she was probably on adrenaline that pain wasn't being registered at the moment.

"Not looking good." He remarked, probing the wound very gently with a finger. She winced then bit her lip as a hiss escaped from her mouth.

"Medi-gel will cover it for now. But when we get back to the Normandy, go see Dr. Chakwas."

Not knowing the full extent of the wound that Shepard was seeing, Liara bent her head over with eyes leaning out to the edge. She caught sight of the wound, blood oozing out slowly with a hint of pain stinging her when she herself poked at it.

Pulling out a syringe from his own supply of medi-gel, Shepard stopped just an inch away as he looked at Liara, offering a warning look of the pain she may feel. "This may hurt a little," he said before injecting the syringe near the wound.

Liara flinched, holding her ground from moving as Shepard went to work on her arm. When the deed was done, she pulled her arm back and looked to it again. The bleeding was already stopping but it still wasn't enough to cover up the fact she had a gash in her arm.

Garrus who was minding his own business was leering back and forth between a small screen showing Rannoch below and Liara. She looked exhausted, huddled in the corner of the Kodiak. Shepard himself didn't look all that great but he was holding on. He guessed not everyone was cut out to be a leader, but no one is ever asked to do the easy thing these days.

"Still in the fight, Liara?" The Turian sounded off, pulling out from Tali's shadow.

She looked over and gave a thumbs up - a human gesture she caught Shepard doing many times before.

Smirking, he then reeled himself back and pulled out his sniper rifle. Ejecting the cool thermal clip out, he then slammed in another clip before cycling the bolt to ensure a round was inside the chamber.

"Five minutes." Cortez reminded the crew. Legion looked over and noticed the communications construct.

"That is it." He said, flicking the small panels around his ocular light at the visual sight of the building.

It was built into the mountain side, hiding in plain view and away from prying eyes, but as the Kodiak grew closer, it was evident that it was no ordinary communications hub. Anti-aircraft batteries lined around this place, making it nearly impossible even for the Normandy to evade all at once.

"Any word on the Quarian teams?" Shepard looked over to Cortez as the man flew the Kodiak. The pilot shook his head then tapped on a omni-panel, showing the Commander the trouble that is brewing.

"Damn thing is knocking out communications. We can't reach the Normandy or Admiral Shala'Raan. I doubt we can even pick the teams down below."

"I advise we return to the Normandy, Shepard." EDI advised as she sat next to Cortez.

Shepard knew the consequences of returning back to the Normandy, this meant that more lives would be lost in the assault if they returned now. For all he knew though, the battle was already over and the quarians were retreating. There was no clear way to know. Yet as he looked back to the squad sitting in their seats, the look on all their faces were exhaustion. Liara especially who was keeping her arm stable by having it rest over her lap. Garrus was probably the only one who appeared more than ready for another fight.

Legion meanwhile decided to counter the argument of returning back to the Normandy with his own.

"Shepard Commander. We only have one chance at succeeding. If we return now, our odds of succeeding again will be greatly against us." Shepard turned and looked at the metallic Geth before him, giving him an attentive look at where he was going with this.

"The Geth will return in more numbers, building up more defenses. By the time we return, it will be impossible to attack this construct."

The Geth then stepped over towards the side door and removed the weapon holstered over his back. "I propose we attack now while the Geth are trying to prepare for a counterattack."

The Quarian female stood up and looked to Legion with a curious eye. Not sure if he was stating that what they plan to do was… crazy. "Legion, we can't do this alone. We have to wait until the fleets can mobilize a ground force to attack this fortification." Tali reminded Legion, but the Geth understood the odds of success.

"The creators have failed to stop the Geth from transmitting the Reaper signal."

She waved her hand dismissively. "No we have not, Legion!"

Legion was quiet, stoic at Tali who was becoming aggressive now.

Garrus stood up and decided to throw his own opinion around while Shepard stood near the cockpit entrance of the Kodiak, looking down to the metal hull with no signs of emotions running through his face.

"As much as I like to take the fight to the Geth. We can't possibly do this, Legion. We are outnumbered, out gun. This is suicide!"

"Legion, we will die if we try. It is best if we regroup, rearm ourselves." Tali insisted, her eyes blinking more rapidly than normal under the visor.

Legion however wasn't biting it. He found them to be only a hindrance to Shepard whose orders and commands were the only ones he obeyed for the moment.

"Shepard Commander," the Geth spoke again over the rallying cry to retreat. "Our consensus argues otherwise. We must disable this communication array now or the creators will lose more than their homeworld."

"Shepard will agree with me. We need to-"

The Commander's eyes lifted as if he discovered something of importance. The quiet demeanor of him left an impression over Tali and Garrus who stood by, watching as though they were wondering if he was going to agree with them.

"We move in now."

Tali was confused, more so now that she tried to get a better look at his face to see if he was suffering from a concussion. "Shepard?"

"Tali," he breathed her name lightly, his eyes finding her own through her visor. "Legion is right. If we return to the Normandy now, the Geth will reinforce this area more. We can only do so much with what we got. You already saw that the quarians have launched an invasion force on Rannoch. We do not know the extent of casualties we have lost."

Tali sighed but agreed none the less. Garrus however wasn't going to argue against Shepard. If they think they could do it, then he wasn't going to whine about whether or not they were going to retreat.

"Thank you Shepard Commander." Legion looked on to the Commander, his ocular light beaming with an understanding that the decision the Commander made was not a light one.

"Don't thank me yet, Legion. We still got a job to do."

"Understood."

Looking elsewhere, Shepard found Liara rather quiet than talkative like her peers. Cradling that arm of hers, Shepard wondered if she can still operate a weapon. "Liara."

The Asari doctor looked up and winced at the pain surfacing again. The adrenaline was wearing off. "Are you good to go?"

She looked to her arm, then to Shepard and gave a unknowing shrug. "I'm still breathing Shepard."

Hearing her say that caused the Commander to smirk. Knowing Liara was still in the game gave Shepard comfort in knowing that they could still do this. "We're almost done, Liara."

"I know." She breathed, holding back the pain that was her arm.

The holographic image of Liara flickered again as she moved her hand slowly across the table. "There was no doubt from Tali or Garrus or even me in what Shepard decided to do was just. We were all wounded and ammo was low between us all. Attacking a heavily fortified area was far more dangerous, exceeding the reward for the risk involved."

She then laughed, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she leaned into her seat. When her sporadic laughing ceased, she sat there staring at the ceiling above her, reminding herself that she had never went with Shepard when they attacked the Collector's. She didn't know if Shepard was more accustomed to suicide missions or he enjoyed them.

"We were all going to find out soon enough." Liara said, her eyes returning to her audience as she then nodded to herself. "Time is waning here for me. I will continue this session later at another time."

With the hologram of Liara twitching and quantifying to another image of the Asari doctor, the audience below looked about each other and talked on today's session with Liara. Patrons of the museum were never bored by the fact that they could come here and learn about a lost history of the Reaper conflict.

Well, one couldn't say it was 'lost' history when most of the information surrounding the war was well collected. Through out the museum were rooms dedicated to different parts of the war. There was even a room that was solely on Cerberus and their betrayal to Humanity. Everyone could see the extent of the war that it had on the galaxy. From one end to another, everyone was affected by the conflict.

It took a dream and an a imagination just to see what the war must have been like. But nothing could get you closer to the drama of it than Liara's recordings. Each day, people would come and visit just to listen to her. The details about Shepard though became more of the fascinating topic.

As much as he was celebrated on Earth and elsewhere, he was viewed almost as a god - a savior to the galaxy. But Liara brought a certain level of humanity into Shepard. A reality that everyone could relate to.

For now, people had left the auditorium as the time of the museum was nearing closing hours. For now, Liara's warm smile and statue-like posture over her metallic foundation remained in silence; waiting for the next session to begin.