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Outsider Effect

Chapter 13

August 21st, 2183 – Artemis Tau Cluster, SSV Normandy en route to Knossos System

+Entry One+

Knossos System: Therum.

Lava planet, we'll need the Mako.

First encounter with a geth Colossus.

Heavy geth resistance.

Possible way to avoid using the giant mining laser?

Would be nice to not have to run from an erupting dig site.

Prepare to face krogan battlemaster. Keep distance.

If forced into close quarters omni-blade to the head plate.

I stop typing on my omni-tool and think. I decided to write down everything I remember about the mass effect game to see if it would help me know what to expect. I'd like to think I still know what's going to happen but..well it has been seven years and I've forgotten some details, clearly. Writing it down might jog my memory a bit. Luckily, the Liara rescue mission is a pretty straight-forward mission. Not much could potentially come out of left field to screw us over….that I can think of. Honestly the whole Nihlus thing is still throwing me for a loop.

With a final check of my omni-tool programs, I deactivate the device. I've run a check on my programs twice, cleaned and checked my guns and armor already, all that's left is the waiting now.

Shepard's Spectre inauguration went just as I expected it to go. Nice ceremony, I could almost hear the music playing in the back of my head while it was going on. After than it was all a rush of activity as preparations for chasing Saren were made.

So here we are on the Normandy, well underway towards Therum. Shepard elected to hunt down Benezia's daughter first off, something I wholeheartedly approve of. Might as well get the whole gang together as quick as possible. Still, I'm going to have to make sure I'm in the CIC when we reach the Knossos system so I can save us the time of searching each individual planet. Of course….I'll need an excuse for how I know to check Therum first.

Er…I'll just say it's a lucky guess. I haven't used that yet so I think I can get away with it.

I glance up from my position near the back of the hanger and glance around. Ashley is working at her station, prepping her gear much as I am. She's been rather quiet since we came back to the Normandy. She clearly doesn't approve of the two aliens sharing her working space down here, but is professional enough to keep her opinion about to herself. For now.

Garrus left a few minutes ago to grab something from the crew deck. He's been running checks on the Mako's systems for nearly four hours now. Despite Ashley's insistence that the vehicle is up to standards.

"Up to human standards, maybe." The turian had said before returning to work. I thought Ashley was going to deck him right there.

She's been a bit sullen since then, and since the only other person down here is Wrex, who might just have invented the word 'taciturn', it's been a very quiet few hours. I very briefly consider striking up a conversation with Ashley, but quickly discard the idea. I'm not really feeling up to dealing with her at the moment. Also I don't generally consider talking to be a source of entertainment. I think that's more Shepard's thing.

The elevator up to the crew deck suddenly makes a mechanical noise and begins lowering down. Well, speaking of Shepard…

The commander steps into the bay and looks around. Spotting me she starts walking over. Oh, I guess it's my turn on the 'Shepard Conversation Circuit". Well this should be interesting.

"Ma'am." I greet her.

"Walker," Shepard smiles politely. She's definitely more relaxed here than on the Citadel. "Garrus said you were down here."

"Just checking my gear." I say. "I don't really have a formal posting on the Normandy yet. Might as well make sure I'm combat ready." Shepard considers that for a moment.

"That's right isn't it? There wasn't really time to formalize anything on the way back from Eden Prime." Shepard says, then shakes her head. "We'll get that straightened out." I nod. A moment passes.

"Did you need something, commander?" I ask. Shepard rubs the back of her head almost sheepishly.

"Just wanted to talk. I like to get to know my crew, and we didn't have much of a chance with that whole business on Eden Prime." Time for dialogue I guess. I shrug.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, for starters I looked over your service record." I try not to wince at that. I don't think she'd bring up Akuze, or at least push the issue but still. To my surprise that particular part of my record isn't what she addresses. "You made N7 three years ago. Since then you've been assigned mostly infiltration and scouting assignments correct?"

"Yes ma'am." I reply, a bit puzzled Where is she going with this? Shepard gives me a searching look.

"I got the feeling back on Eden Prime, you don't work with a team often do you?" she asks. I blink at that. Well, no I suppose not. At most Infiltrators work in pairs, but routinely I was sent into target areas alone for the sake of mobility and stealth, and because the Infiltrator Corps wasn't exactly the most populated branch in the Alliance military. We often found ourselves stretched thing. Not that I didn't have backup, of course. But as far as scouting and stealth work go I tended to be a lone operator.

"Not often, no." I shake my head slowly. "Honestly Eden Prime was the largest operation I've been a part of in nearly a year. Why?"

Shepard sighs. "Walker, I just want to make sure that you're going to be able to work alongside a full squad out in the field. No lone wolf stuff on my team."

I frown at that. I don't really appreciate the implication behind that, but I don't voice it. I understand what she's getting at. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. So I noticed on your file that your training officer was Riley." Shepard flashes a sympathetic grin. "My condolences." I let out a short laugh.

"It made N school just that much more of a fun experience." I reply, getting a chuckle out of Shepard.

"I worked with her on a combat drop once. She's…enthusiastic." Shepard says, searching for the right word. I'd say 'psychotic' is closer, but hey whatever. "Well, I'd better go. More hearts and minds to win over." Shepard looks over at the wall where Ashley and Wrex are doing their own things. "Be ready to go when we hit Knossos."

"It's been a while since I've worked with another N7, much less a Spectre. Looking forward to it ma'am." I reply. I watch after Shepard as she approaches Ashley next, but tune out their conversation after a moment. Wrex glances at the pair then over at me. He turns his attention back to staring at the far wall with a audible snort. Between him and Williams we're a real friendly bunch down here on Hangar Deck.

I toy with the idea of heading up to the Crew Deck but elect to just go over my omni-tool programs again. A few minutes are spent reviewing the programs (or 'Apps' as many people like to call them these days) that I'm taking. Overload, definitely. Going up against geth it's practically a must. I stare at the Sabotage icon on my screen for a moment.I haven't had a whole lot of time to address it, but I still need to figure out how to successfully Sabotage geth processes. I think I'm getting closer, but my confidence is shaky. Actually, now that I think about it, I could always ask Tali for tips. She knows how to hack geth right? I'll put it on my to-do list. When we aren't about to embark on a mission and she isn't busy in Engineering.

Speaking of which, I note Shepard walking towards one of the corridors to Engineering now. I guess she's done talking with Ashley. Hell I didn't even see her talk with Wrex. Then again, I doubt any conversation with Wrex is going to last very long.

Idly, I activate my omni-blade. I give it a once-over. Mini-fabricator still seems to be holding strong, though I do make a mental note to pack some extra omni-gel. Never enough of that stuff. I give it a few test swings, enjoying the 'hum' that gives on every down-swing. Maybe I like it a little too much. Eh.

"I still don't see why you use that thing, Walker." I hear Ashley say. The gunnery chief is glancing over at from her work bench. "A sidearm would work much better in a fight."

"I have one." I shrug. "But it never hurts to have more weapons on hand." Omni-blade. On hand. Heh. I'm hilarious. "My omni-tool has gotten me out of plenty of tight spots. And an omni-blade is good in my field of expertise."

Ashley raises an eyebrow. "Your expertise?"

"Stealth, infiltration, sabotage," I pause, eyeing the glowing holo-blade. "The occasional assassination. Collapsible blades work real well when you don't want to make noise."

"Wait, wait, assassination?" Ashley frowns. "Since when does the Alliance go around assassinating people?" I give her a disbelieving look. Is she serious? Wrex snorts in amusement.

"Sure, sometimes." I say lightly. Most of them are classified, of course. Several batarian dignitaries, a Terminus warlord, even a salarian business representative who was actually an STG spy. "Of course it's all hush hush. Probably said too much already."

Ashley looks like she wants to say something else, but just closes her mouth and shakes her head instead. And that's that. I'm a little disturbed by that bit of naiveté from someone years my senior, but I guess rank and file marines don't normally have to deal with the shadier aspects of military operations.

'Commander, we're about two minutes out from the Knossos System.' Joker's voice suddenly reports over the ship-wide comm. system. A moment later Shepard walks back into the hangar, making a beeline for the elevator. I quickly cross the room and join her. She glances over at me.

"Something on your mind, Walker?"

"Any idea at all what planet T'soni is on?" I ask. Maybe we won't even need to go through the whole process of searc-

"Unfortunately no." Shepard sighs. Damn. The commander stares up at the elevator and motions for me to follow. "I don't suppose you've been holding out on us and happen to know what planet she's on?" She says it as a joke, but all the same I nearly trip over my own feet as I follow her into the elevator.

"Hah, sorry no." I grin weakly.

"Wrex, Ash!" Shepard calls the attention of the other two squadmates in the room. "Get your gear together, I want the whole team assembled for this sortie." Ashley salutes and Wrex just kinda nods faintly.

"The whole team?" I question as Shepard and I wait for the elevator to make its journey up to the crew deck. Seriously, what purpose could there be for such a slow elevator? At this point using stairs would have been more convenient. And the designers of the Normandy certainly weren't averse to using them. So why? "Will that be necessary?"

"Anderson's report said that the geth activity in this sector has been heavy." Shepard replies. "If their forces at Eden Prime were anything to go by, then we can expect a lot of resistance."

Good point. But…"If that's true then how do we know that T'soni is even still alive?" I point out.

"We can only assume that they're searching blind like we are." Shepard's reply is grim. She doesn't sound too optimistic about that. "If they weren't, then why else are they still here?"

Also a good point. I just nod my acceptance of that fact.

The elevator finishes its upward ascent and we both step out, continuing the journey through the Normandy up to the CIC.

Pressley is waiting beside the galaxy map, and I just sort of hang back as Shepard steps up to the holographic interface. "Our scanners have picked up a single geth ship in system. Our stealth systems are doing their job though so we haven't been detected yet." The executive officer reports.

"Good." Shepard says, eyes moving over the readout of the Knossos System. "Let's keep it that way. We have no idea where Dr. T'soni is beyond the fact that her last communication came from this system. We're going to have to search them all."

Here's where I come in, I suppose.

"Maybe not." I speak up. Pressley and Shepard look over at me.

"Something you'd like to share, Lieutenant?" Shepard asks.

"We may not have to look on every planet. The geth got here before us, which means they've already been looking. And there's only one geth ship, which means they can't afford to spread themselves thin over the entire system. So we can assume that some of these planets have already been searched. So all we need to look for is the planet with the most geth activity."

"If nothing else that would narrow down the search." Pressley muses.

Shepard looks back over the galaxy map and frowns. "It's a start, at least." She agrees. "tell Ensign Draven to pinpoint geth activity patterns and conduct our sweep from there." She orders Pressley. The XO nods and with a quick salute sets off about the task.

Several minutes later and Joker is calling over the speaker again. "Hey Commander, we've got readings you might want to check out."

Shepard looks over at me, still standing off to the side nearby, and tilts her head in a motion to follow. "Let's see if your guess turns out right."

"Sure hope so. Otherwise we're going to have to sweep this whole system." I say dryly, following Shepard as we cross the CIC towards the bridge. Joker is hunched over his console scanning several readouts, while Pressley watches over his shoulder.

"Commander, I think we have something." Pressley says, turning to Shepard.

"The geth cruiser just made an orbital pass by this planet." Ensign Draven, the pretty blond ensign sitting at the console adjacent to Joker says, typing away at her own console. A second later a larger picture appears on the screen over Joker's head. The planet Therum appears, along with several readouts scrolling across the screen. "Our initial scan picks up a lot of wide-range communication on the planet surface, but we can't get a clear signal."

"But the geth are definitely down there." Joker picks up. "And a lot of them, from the sounds of it."

"Therum is a volcanic world, out of the way with little in the way of civilization. The kind of place an archeological team might set up?" Pressley questions.

"What do we know about Therum?" I ask. Pressley looks a little nonplussed to see me still on the Command Deck. In full armor no less. But hey, so long as Shepard is fine with it, there's no way I'm missing out on this.

"Hmm, well it's a small burning rock, basically." Joker responds, typing a few more readings out. "Only has a population of about thirty-four thousand, which are all in Nova Yekaterinburg clear on the other side of the planet. Doesn't look like the geth are heading anywhere in that direction."

"All the same, might be a good idea to warn them about the geth at their back door." Pressley says.

"Hey, based on Alliance reports, a year ago Therum reportedly uncovered several ruins that are believed to be Prothean in origin." Ensign Draven speaks up. Shepard grins.

"I'd say we've found our planet then." She declares. "Get us down there Joker. Lieutenant, with me. Looks like the geth aren't going to make this easy." She says, turning and leaving the bridge. I follow a step behind.

"What's the plan, commander?" I ask her.

"I think it's time to give that Mako in the hangar a test drive." Shepard replies, sounding entirely too happy at the prospect. Most people would be terrified by the prospect of getting into one of the hard-to-handle vehicles on a very volcanic terrain.

I just grin fiercely.

"As your commanding officer I reserve the right to personally oversee tactically important equipment, Lieutenant. Which means that I'm driving." Shepard shoots down my request.

Again.

"But-"

"No buts, soldier! Now load up!" Shepard snaps. Even as she turns back to the vehicle I spot a smirk on her face. I just sigh loudly and nod.

"Yes ma'am." I spent the entire trip back down to the hanger trying to convince Shepard to let me operate the Mako when we drop. Little known fact about the N Program. Of the many skills that are taught to N Operators during the program, the operation of armored vehicles is one of them. N candidates spend hundreds of hours learning how to use the M35 Mako in hazardous conditions and when it comes down to it you either really love driving it, or you absolutely hate it.

I fall into the former category.

Unfortunately so does Shepard.

"What's so important about who drives the vehicle?" Garrus wonders, approaching the Mako with his rifle in hand. The squad is all assembled in the hanger, going over final gear checks while Joker brings the Normandy in for our insertion. Looking over the team it's easy to see the difference between the veteran fighters and the rookies: namely Jenkins and Tali. Jenkins is fidgety, checking his assault rifle every few seconds. This will only be his second combat mission so it's no surprise really. As for Tali…

The quarian girl is clearly nervous. If the fact that she's alternating between looking at her omni-tool and wringing her hands is any indication. She's going to need looking after in this fight, probably. I don't know how extensively the Migrant Fleet trains its pilgrims before sending them out. Clearly they get weapons training, but I highly doubt quarian pilgrims are all that experienced in combat operations.

"You've clearly never ridden in one of these things, Garrus." Shepard says.

"I have." Kaidan says back, looking a bit…apprehensive. "And I've seen you drive as well. Maybe letting Walker take the wheel wouldn't be such a bad idea, Commander?" he suggests. Hah. Oh he's going to wish he hadn't said that.

"You have so little faith in your commanding officer, Alenko?" Shepard asks in a fake hurt voice. Kaidan just replies with a weary sigh.

"It can't be that bad, Lieutenant." Garrus clearly seems confused by Kaidan's reaction to Shepard's driving skills. Kaidan just gives the turian a haunted look.

I notice Ashley saying something quietly to Jenkins. Probably trying to calm the guy down. A good idea. We need everyone focused. That in mind, I step over to Tali. The quarian snaps her gaze away from her omni-tool and looks at me. I've been acquainted with my share of quarians before so it's not too hard to focus on her eyes behind the clouded visor. The eye contact is something that the quarians don't see too much of from outsiders, and doing so is something of a sign of respect. Or, so I've gathered.

"Lieutenant." Tali says in greeting. Yeah, she sounds nervous.

"Doing alright, Tali?" I ask.

"Oh, yes I'm fine. I just…" she trails off uncertainly.

"Pre-mission nerves?" I guess. She nods. "Understandable. I can't imagine this is what you expected when you started your pilgrimage." At that she chuckles, a bit less jittery. Good.

"Definitely not. I spent half of the time training for my pilgrimage wondering if I'd even have to use this thing." She touched the shotgun strapped to the small of her back. "Now I'm just wondering if I will even be able to keep up." She says that and looks over the assembled team.

"You'll do fine. Just listen to Shepard's orders and keep your weapon handy. Between the eight of us I think we can handle whatever the geth throw at us." I try to reassure her.

"I suppose. And I do get the chance to blow up some geth." Tali sounds notably more cheerful at that thought.

"Speaking of which," I say, suddenly reminded of my earlier thought, "The next time we get a chance, I was hoping you could give me some tips on geth software." I flare up my omni-tool and Tali tilts her head curiously. "Back on Eden Prime, my Sabotage didn't seem to work on the geth. I was hoping to get another edge over on them."

"Oh. Of course." Tali nods. "Geth are more advanced than the typical software that omni-tool interfaces have to put up with. I'd be happy to help, Lieutenant." She says. I smile at her.

"Thanks."

"It's no trouble. And uh, thank you as well." Tali says, looking suddenly nervous and glancing down. I raise an eyebrow questioningly (though I think the gesture might have been lost on the alien girl). "I hadn't thanked you yet for saving my life back on the Citadel." She continues. I blink. Oh, right.

"All part of the job," I reply. "Happy to help. I'm just glad I was able to get there in time." Because God forbid I be the one responsible for such a major character dying.

"Still, thank you." Tali says back. There's a lull in the conversation after that. Tali suddenly seems to be shy for some reason, but hey, it looks like her pre-mission jitters are gone. I'll count that as mission successful.

'Three minutes to drop zone, Commander.' Joker's voice says over the comm..

"Alright, everybody load up." Shepard orders, climbing up into the Mako. We all follow after her into the armored vehicle. In addition to the driver's seat, passenger's seat and gunner's seat situated slightly above, the back of the Mako hosts room for six more seats. Meaning that the vehicle can hold nine occupants, granted there isn't much room left in the vehicle after the fact. Unfortunately the Mako was designed with human occupants in mind, not a person of turian size, and certainly not one of Wrex's considerable mass.

"This is going to be a tight fit." Kaidan mutters, climbing up after Shepard. To my horror he quickly claims the passenger's seat before I can get to it. Great. Well at least-

"I'm eager to see what the cannon on this thing can do." Garrus says, shouldering past me and climbing up into the gunnery seat. I try not to glare too noticeably at him. Damnit Vakarian! I sigh and slide into one of three seats arrayed behind the driver's seat where Shepard is already sitting and going over quick checks on the Mako's systems.

I turn my attention to the seats across from me where Tali slides into the seat opposite me, followed by Ashley, then Jenkins. Which leaves…

I can actually hear the metal groan under the strain of Wrex as the massive krogan plops down beside me, easily taking up the remaining two seats by himself. Kaidan was right. It's a tight fit. The Mako can fit a lot of people inside it, but the designers certainly didn't take things like personal space into consideration when they made it. Which means I get sit uncomfortably close to a centuries-old battle-master with a murderous disposition.

For his part, Wrex just glances over at me and says, "Walker."

"Wrex."

…

Yep. Cozy.

"Strap in, back there! Thirty seconds to drop!" Shepard calls back to us. I quickly strap myself in while the others do the same. It's sort of amusing watching Wrex mess with two sets of safety harnesses for a moment before he snorts and tosses them aside. I suppose given his size there isn't a whole lot of room for him to go flying around in here anyway.

"I can't believe we're actually dropping in this thing from low atmosphere." Tali mutters, tightening the straps on her seat. "It's insane."

"The fun doesn't even really start until we hit the ground." I declare cheerfully. Jenkins looks at me in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you'll see." I reply, chuckling ominously for effect. Much to my satisfaction it seems to make the private considerably more concerned turning a bit paler. Ashley just masks her expression with a disciplined calm, and I can't see Tali's expression, but if I could I bet I would have found it hilarious.

And then suddenly I feel Shepard gun the Mako's engine and we shoot forward…then suddenly feel weightless. That lasts for about a second before gravity kicks in and the Mako goes plummeting towards Therum's surface.

Jenkins lets out a small cry of surprise as we fall, overshadowed by Tali's exclamation, "Oh Keelah!" and pressing herself back into her seat.

I just chuckle, which coems out as a deep booming sound and it takes a second for me to realize that Wrex is laughing too. Well at least someone else is enjoying themselves too.

Thanks to both the mass effect technology of the vehicle and the boosters on the underside of the carriage, when the Mako touches down all we feel is a slight lurch. "We're good to go." Shepard says, contacting the Normandy.

'Roger that Commander.' Joker replies. 'And just a heads up, I can see what looks like a geth dropship headed your direction. I think you're going to have company soon.'

Even as he says that, I hear the sound of the geth dropship overhead and a half-second later I see it from the Mako's windshield. "Acknowledged." Shepard says. "We've got eyes on the enemy."

"It's dropping something." Garrus reports. The geth dropship is hovering over the ridge that's just opposite us with a lake of lava in between. Ah Therum. I can already feel the inside of Mako beginning to heat up. I see two large forms drop from the ship's undercarriage, unfolding into the unmistakable forms of two geth armatures.

"That doesn't look good." Kaidan says, eyeing the new geth threats.

"Aim for their heads if you can. The optical ports are a weak point." Tali speaks up, offering some insight.

"Got , I want you monitoring the Mako's systems. Garrus, introduce them to our main gun." Shepard calls back to us, already moving the Mako . The quarian mechanist's omni-tool comes to life in an instant.

"Roger that." Tali says and begins scanning.

"Can do!" Garrus replies and an instant later the Mako's cannon booms, firing an accelerated round across the lake towards one of the armatures. The resulting hit struck the geth artillery in its glowing optics. Damn good shot. Unfortunately it just makes the geth walker stagger back instead of bringing it down. The second armature responds with its own attack, firing a glowing orb of superheated plasma.

"Incoming!" Kaidan calls rather unnecessarily. Any normal driver would try to hurriedly dodge the incoming fire, but Shepard is N7 and we do things a little differently. Shepard hits the Mako's boosters an instant before the geth's attack reaches us. The team lets out a collective yell as the Mako suddenly shoots upwards. The plasma goes flying underneath the Mako harmlessly.

"Don't let up, Garrus!" Shepard says as the Mako returns to the ground. The minute it makes landfall Shepard hits the gas and the vehicle races forward along the rocky terrain. Garrus fires away with the cannon some more, making each shot count. I'm impressed that he hasn't missed once considering how fast we're moving.

The first armature finally goes down after Garrus' fourth shot, giving a shudder and then exploding. Whatever victory I feel from that vanishes in an instant when the attack from the second geth armature hits the Mako as it is coming around the edge of the lava lake. Damn thing is getting better at aiming.

"Shields at seventy percent, Shepard!" Tali warns. Yeah those things pack a punch. Shepard just clicks her tongue in irritation and speeds up.

"Er, we're heading right for that thing, Shepard." Kaidan notes worriedly.

"Yep." Is the commander's succinct reply.

"Ramming speed." I add helpfully.

"Eh?" is Tali's response.

"Hah!" And that's Wrex's.

The minute the Mako get's close enough, Shepard lets loose with the Mako's front mounted machine guns, cutting through the armature's shields as we get closer. The geth fires another shot of plasma at us, hitting the front of the Mako and briefly filling up the viewport with a blinding blue light.

"Fifty percent!" Tali reports the shields' status, worry noticeably creeping into her voice.

I think at the last moment the geth realizes what's about to happen and attempts to move, and then the Mako slams into it nose-first. The impact with the heavy geth stops the Mako's motion, but in turn sends the geth armature stumbling backwards.

Right into the lava.

"Nice." Jenkins and I both say at the same time. Ashley lets out a long exhale and I note that she's been clutching the bottom of her seat rather tightly.

"Was that really necessary, Shepard?" Garrus calls down.

"Probably not. But it was satisfying." The commander replies with a grin. "I love driving this thing."

"Err, maybe we should let Lieutenant Walker drive for a while." Ashley suggests, clearly not excited about meeting more geth heavy artillery at such close range. Ash is a tough marine, but riding along with an N7 is the stuff of nightmares. Unless you happen to also enjoy the feel of the M35's vertically aligned mass effect fields telling physics to go fuck itself.

Which I do.

"Please, I haven't even gotten started yet." Shepard says happily.

"I do still want to drive." I mutter.

"See?" Tali's quick to jump on that. I guess she isn't a fan of the commander's driving either.

"I would have rammed both of the armatures. See if I could have lined it up to get both of 'em in one go." I add. And try not to laugh because the horror coming from Tali is almost palpable.

"I don't think we can get the Mako through these rocks." Kaidan observes. The past twenty minutes have been a routine of blasting (and occasionally running over) geth troops and armatures. Despite the haphazard nature of Shepard's driving, we've managed to fight our way through towards the archeological outpost. "I think we might have to walk from here, commander." Kaidan continues.

I scrutinize the almost literal wall of rocks standing in our way. There's a path narrow enough for people to pass through, but for a large vehicle like the Mako it would be impossible. That said, we could try boosting over the rocks. I'm about to suggest it when I notice Shepard's finger hovering over the button to trigger the Mako's boosters. I guess she's thinking the same thing. Ashley notices too.

"They look too tall to try and go over." She quickly points out. The gunnery chief has been pretty collected during this trip, but I think even she has had enough of the Mako.

Shepard stares at the barricade of rocks for a moment and then nods. "Agreed. We'll continue on foot. Kaidan, radio Joker and have him come collect the Mako. Everybody out."

Honestly I'm a little glad to be out, even of the Mako is a thrill to ride in. It was getting boring just sitting there watching Garrus shoot geth.

"I'm on point." Shepard says when the team is all out of the armored vehicle and ready to proceed. "Wrex, with me. Garrus, you're our primary marksman. Walker, I want you scouting ahead." She orders quickly. Garrus and I glance at each other and I nod, drawing my rifle.

"I'm on it, ma'am." I say.

So I head into the pass first, already prepared to fight some geth. I mean, I won't take them on without anyone to back me up. One thing I noticed back on Eden Prime and even driving here: There are a lot more geth than there were in the game. So I'm not going to be making any risky moves based on what I know from playing the games.

I only have to walk a little ways in before I spot a single geth unit waling up the slope towards me. I react quickly, hunching behind a nearby (convenient) rock.

"Contact." I say into my comm.. bead quietly. "One-no wait, three hostiles. Looks like a patrol." As I talk two more geth appear behind their comrade. "There are probably more further on." I can't see around the bend of this small canyon, but I know that there is open terrain just past it with a sniper's nest.

"Don't engage," Tali is the one who responds, "The geth are all neurally linked. The minute you fire at one every geth in the area will know you're there." She explains. I knew that already, but thanks for the warning anyway.

A moment later Shepard comes charging in, Wrex and Ashley at her flanks. The geth spot them and raise their rifles to fire. I stand from cover and shoot one through the head before it gets the chance. The other two geth open fire.

Shepard's barrier flares as rounds bounce off and the vanguard raises a hand, glowing with biotic energy. The geth she's targeting is suddenly Lifted into the air, making it an easy target for me to shoo-

A shot goes over my head, hitting the biotically trapped geth. I look over my shoulder to see Garrus standing from cover. The turian just inclines his head at me coolly.

Wrex is already in close with the final geth, firing his shotgun into its chest a couple of times…and then a third time for good measure.

"Well they'll know where we are now." Kaidan says.

"So we move quickly." Shepard responds. "Walker?"

I take that as my cue to keep going. But really it isn't necessary for me to go too far. After several feet the canyon opens into a wide bowl littered with debris and crates. Probably a staging area for the archeologists. And it's crawling with geth. I scan over them.

I double back to the others. "Ten hostiles further up. Four of them are up along the cliffside, so probably snipers. I spotted at least one geth with a rocket launcher among them. It's some sort of staging ground so there's plenty of cover for the geth down there."

"What sort of cover do we have?" Shepard asks me. I frown thoughtfully for a second and consider how big our team is. Were it just Shepard and two others then cover wouldn't be much of a problem at all, but as it stands with eight of us here there's a lot less to work with effectively.

"Minimal. Some rocks and trees near the exit of this path but that's about it." I say.

"Then we have to be quick about this." The commander replies. "You and Garrus take care of the geth up along the ridge. Tali, Wrex and I will engage the hostiles down below. Ashley, Kaidan and Jenkins, I want you three giving us cover fire." She instructs. Each of us nod in turn at our instructions. If coordinated right then Garrus and I can deal with the geth support troops before they get a bead on us, and the covering team can keep the geth on the ground busy while Shepard, Tali and Wrex rush them.

"Alright, let's move out. We don't know if the geth have found Dr. T'soni yet, but if they haven't then they will soon." Shepard says, hoisting her shotgun.

"Let's not give them the chance." Garrus says. Shepard nods at him and the team moves forward.

AN: This has been sitting on my computer for like a month now. It's only about two-thirds completed from what I had originally planned but stuff happens. I took October off to try and focus on life stuff, but it looks like my free time won't improve much now so I figured I'd wrap up what I have of this chapter and post it rahter than keep you guys waiting any longer. That said, I have no clue when I'll get around to writing the next chapter so try not to get too excited :P

I figured while I'm here I'll address some reviews:

Ranger Station Charlie: I haven't actually played any of the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer so I have no idea what skills there are there (but I might look into it).

Serenary Chiba: Glad you like the story! That sort of "dry" narrative, believe it or not, is actually purposeful. It's a story told through the eyes of a soldier and his thought process rather than a narrative description of the surroundings. If I ever get back to doing a third-person story (maybe something Dragon Age?) then I'd hope that my writing comes off different.

Shinkansen: Yeah that's something I overlooked. It's rather embarrassing but I didn't pay that detail much thought when I wrote it.

RosoMC: Thanks for the support! And I'm happy to see that my writing inspired your own. Now that I'm back I'll be sure to give it a read.

AlsoKnownAsMatt: lol don't worry that's the one pairing I think I've said won't be happening in this fic.

And since multiple folks have inquired and I'm sure more will I'll just say that no matter what the SI pairing ends up being it won't truly come into play until Mass Effect 2. So yeah. Shippers, prepare for a long voyage.

Anyhoo, thanks for all the support guys and gals, I'll see you next time on Outsider Effect!