Jane Shepard
The colony of Zhu’s Hope was small, given the amount of funding Exo-Geni had reportedly pumped into the location. It was just more evidence that the company had prioritized their own research and investigation over the livelihoods of the people living here. The location was nothing more than a dozen or so prefab buildings scattered across the rooftop. The crane that had moved and placed the buildings hadn’t even been taken down yet. It was clear the living area was not a priority.
That said Jane was surprised to see how well they had held out. There was no sign of any dead, no grave sites or cordoned off areas, and while the people looked exhausted and in rough shape, they still appeared to be at least physically healthy. They didn’t have any of the signs of a long siege, they appeared to have been eating and had enough medical aid to keep minor injuries patched up.
So either they were well organized, or they hadn’t been dealing with the Geth for very long. It was no insult to them but the latter seemed far more likely. Marching through the camp it was overwhelmingly human in population, as expected of a human company’s research colony, but there was actually a Salarian running a small kiosk. It had likely been a store before the siege but he was happily handing out much needed supplies and weapons willingly. None of the equipment was high enough quality to be worth looking at for herself, but it was a good feeling to see people helping each other in spite of any difference between species.
It didn’t take long for her team to cross the rooftop that the colony was built on, only about 5 minutes to reach the opposite end of the camp they had entered from. The east side exit (or entrance depending on which way you were coming from) had a similar set up as the one they had come through on the west, with barricades set up and multiple armed guards manning them.
There seemed to be a leader on this side as well, and older man in the worker coveralls that were common on colony sites like this. He was giving a few orders and gesturing at his men to resupply the medical kits that were at each of the barricades here. He was flanked by a woman who actually appeared to be wearing some kind of ballistic weave suit and held a pistol with some modicum of confidence. She noticed Jane right away and nudged the older man, pointing out Shepards crew as they approached. The older man turned around and approached quickly, a look of relief visible on his face.
“Oh thank goodness Commander. I told you, Alicia, that the Alliance would respond to our distress signal as quickly as possible.” He looked at the woman at his side, who had holstered her pistol, but was still watching the group warily with her arms crossed.
“You’re being far too generous with them, the alliance should have been here within hours, not 3 days. And one ship? For an attack from the Geth? No, they aren’t here for us, not solely anyway.” The woman, Alicia it would seem, regarded Shepard with little more than contempt. While she wasn’t actively hostile, it was unlikely that she would be much help either.
“Enough Alicia. I’m certain the commander is here to help. In the meantime we will do everything we can to be of assistance. Understood?” Fai Dan gave Alicia a look, who simply responded with a huff and returned to watching the doorway. The colony leader turned back to face the group.
“I apologize for her, It’s been a hard few days for us all. We’ve managed to avoid any deaths here so far, but we are completely cut off from the Exo-Geni site, and we have no idea how well they are doing over there. Most of us worked for the company and had family or friends that were on site when everything happened.” He looked away, staring out the door they were guarding.
Jane stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. She could see the man needed comfort, that he doubted if he was doing the right thing, prioritizing the defence of the colony over rescuing those other Exo-Geni employees.
“You did good, maintaining this place's security. I’m certain it wasn’t easy. There are others aboard my ship that are coming to join us. They will help you reinforce the defenses here while we work on clearing out the Geth and finding survivors from the Exo-Geni site.” Fai Dan nodded in response, looking more assured by the confirmation that Jane’s team planned on helping.
“In the meantime, I need you to tell me everything you can about what was happening here. What reason would the Geth have to attack, what were they after? Anything you can tell me will be useful.” Fai Dan nodded, looking serious once again.
“I’ll tell you what I can, but I’m not sure what will be useful. I didn’t work for Exo-Geni directly, they contracted me to specifically oversee the maintenance of the colony. Ethan Jeong was in charge of Exo-Geni’s actual work.” The information made sense so far with what Jenkins had uncovered, which wasn’t very helpful. They needed to know what couldn’t be uncovered with research. Whatever Exo-Geni was doing here caught the attention of Saren and the Geth somehow.
“That’s fine, whatever you can tell us will be useful I’m certain. Let’s start with the basics. How long has the colony been present, what were its objectives? What work was Exo-Geni doing and how did the colony fit in?” Information is always valuable and important, and Jane knew when it was important to gather as much as possible, even if it seemed arbitrary.
“Right. Well Exo-Geni has been working on the planet for 2 years or so at this point, investigating the ruins and searching for resources. 6 months ago they decided to set up permanent housing instead of shuttling people on and off word. That’s when the colony was constructed and that is its only real purpose. We just house the staff that work in the ruins.” His answer was succinct and precise, the response of someone who’s given it a dozen times before. Or who’s rehearsed their answer.
“Why only start housing staff 6 months ago? You said Exo-Geni was shuttling people to and from for more than a year, why the change?” Kaidan asked the question, clearly confused by the change in protocol out of nowhere.
“I couldn’t tell you. Exo-Geni are the ones who came to the decision, as for their reasoning I couldn’t be certain. They probably found enough supplies or an artifact of enough value to justify a more permanent outpost.” The answer was appropriately vague, enough so that Kaidan gave Jane a look showing his disbelief. Jane wanted to continue the gentle approach, he would be more amenable the longer she and her crew kept their professionalism.
“Are you sure you have no idea? Anything, even rumours could be useful. It’s unlikely the geth are here for just any old research post. Any lead you can give us is helpful.” Jane pressed a little further, hoping to get something.
“I’m sorry. I wish I knew more, really. Whatever they want is probably in the East tower. It’s where Exo-Geni has been concentrating their research, just across the sky bridge. It’s also where the Geth have concentrated their forces, and where they had a jammer of some sorts set up. It’s why we have had no contact with the workers.” There was still something he wasn’t saying although it could just be the standard sort of confidential information companies like Exo-Geni always enforced.
“Well thank you for your help Fai Dan. We appreciate it. Once the rest of my crew gets here I’ll charge them with assisting in your defence, and we’ll make our way to the east tower.
“Thank you Commander. Whatever you can do for us will be app-” The colony leader was in the middle of thanking Jane and her crew when they were interrupted by a shout and the sound of gunfire.
“GETH INCOMING!” The call came from one of the guards at the barricaded entrance. Fai Dan flinched for a moment before taking cover, but Shepards ground team were professionals and they made that known instantly by their response.
Wrex and Shepard immediately drew weapons and began marching towards the door that was barricaded. There were a few rocket troopers past the opening but they were kept from any progress by the combined fire of the guards on point. Kaidan and Tali drew weapons and fell instep behind, a shield boost from the Quarian on Wrex and a barrier set up by Kaidan on Shepard as they became mobile barricades. They pushed their way into the hallway, which led into another stairwell, climbing higher into the tower.
The Geth had set up on either side of the door in an attempted ambush, but were blasted apart for their troubles by point blank shotgun fire. There were other Geth further up the stair case, and Shepard called back to the guards before continuing upwards.
“You all stay back, maintain the barricade here and we will clear the Geth.” She didn’t wait for a response back, switching to comms to send one more message.
“Ashley, more Geth attacked from the east of the camp, we are moving to clear them out, join us as soon as available.” She did wait for a response this time, but it didn’t take long.
“Understood Commander, moving double time.” Ashley’s voice was prepared, and professional as usual. Jane figured they wouldn’t be long, but she wasn’t one to wait around for backup if she thought they could handle the threat. She gave a hand signal and her team began moving up the stairs.
There were enemies on the way, at least a dozen geth as well as two of the strange jumping ones that had surprised them earlier, but it wasn’t a challenge. Already Shepard and her crew were getting used to dealing with them. A biotic field to pull or lift the enemy into the open, followed by a single volley of concentrated fire was more than enough to end them. And the regular geth were only a threat in large numbers, in the cramped halls of the stairwell they couldn’t come with enough numbers to be a threat. Not only that, their seeming lack of fear of death made them remarkably easy to deal with, as they barely bothered to use cover. This being the case, Wrex apparently felt the battle was relaxed enough to strike up casual conversation.
“So, are you going to tell me why we bothered pretending that we didn’t know that guy was hiding something. Would have been easier to just make him come clean.” Wrex’s question was followed by a blast from his shotgun, as he blew a Geth that had tried to get close in half
“Because, letting him think he got out clean will let Ashley and the others take a better look around. If we made it clear we knew something was going on he would have tried to limit where they could go or look around. Now he has no reason to, so if he still does it’s even more suspicious.” Jane answered the question honestly, taking the chance to use her biotics to throw a Geth trooper into the opening in the center of the stairwell, allowing it fall to hundreds of stories to it’s inevitable death.
“Wait, you actually thought that far ahead? I thought we were just keeping it professional and assuming we’d figure stuff out from this Ethan guy.” Kaidan seemed surprised by how Jane had thought things through, which felt partially insulting to the Commander, but she understood. More often than not she preferred the direct approach, smashing or threatening your obstacles was often faster, but was more likely to raise eyebrows and garner bad attention.
“I mean I’m sure if Ethan’s alive he will be more than happy to tell us everything, at least with some good old fashioned Krogan encouragement.” Wrex smiled at the mention and proceeded to pick up half a Geth corpse and toss it at another unit, distracting it long enough for him to close the distance and grab hold, crushing the things head with his hands.
“Wait, the colony leader was hiding something?” Tali, who had been focused on a Geth unit that suddenly began to glow orange instead of blue and open fire on it’s comrades, turned to ask her question with surprise.
The team was silent for a moment before Wrex laughed again, holding the final remaining Geth unit place with biotics while Jane blasted it apart with repeated shotgun fire.
“You know I thought the kid was doing a good job pretending. Now I know why.” He laughed a little, straightening his back as he did so to stretch. Kaidan and Jane couldn’t help but chuckle as well, while they took the relaxed second to carry on up the last flight of stairs.
“Hey, it's not my fault. I’ve only been interacting with humans for a few months, I don’t know what they look like when they are lying.” You could hear the embarrassment in Tali’s voice as they reached another doorway, leading to another hall. The sounds in the distance made it obvious there were more Geth ahead, but no one was hesitating. As they moved through the door, stepping into cover once again Wrex continued to speak.
“Lying Humans look just like lying Quarians. Should be pretty easy to tell.” The hallway the had stepped into was wider, and curved slightly compared to the others they had used, with a much taller ceiling. The roof was cracked and let light from outside shine in.
The Geth here were also in much better position, having already taken positions of cover and having drones fly ahead and fire from above. Jane and Wrex actually had to step into cover to maintain their own safety for a moment, choosing to focus on clear shots, or the occasional burst of biotic ability rather than large charge attacks.
“Wait, you know what a Quarian looks like? I thought they always wore those suits?” Kaidan asked the question as he used his biotics to slam 2 of the drones that had been flying towards the group into the floor, causing them to spark and break apart immediately.
“Hm, well yeah, the Quarian have only been wearing those get ups for the last 200 years or so. You’ll find plenty of Asari and Krogan who have met ones outside of them. Back before they got pushed off their home worlds they only wore the suits in particularly risky environments, otherwise they were optional. As far as appearances go they look pretty much like you Humans and Asari do, at least in the face.” Wrex answered the question and then hopped over the cover they were using, shrugging off a few shots across his armor as he closed the distance to the next piece of cover.
Jane took the opportunity to do the same to another piece of cover, splitting the amount of areas the Geth could fire on. She raised her arm and fired a grenade at the back of the room, detonating it just over top of the cover the last few Geth Troopers were using, causing them to stumble out into the open, and be blasted apart by Kaidan and Tali’s precise shots. The entire crew were breathing heavily, as that fight had been tougher than they expected. The ease of the staircase led them to feel overconfident against an enemy in a good position of cover. Still, they were uninjured, and seemed relaxed enough to focus on other topics.
“It still feels strange to think there was a time when these suits were optional. We have to wear them even around our own kind now, there are very few environments where you can do so safely, and actually doing so around someone is the ultimate sign of… commitment.” She sounded almost sad, longing as she described the changes her people had to make just to survive. She kicked a Geth corpse, clearly blaming them for the situation they had been forced into.
“Don’t worry Tali, we are going to have plenty of chances to kill some Geth. Hell you’re going to get so good at it, you can bring back lessons to the Quarian fleet. Maybe you’ll lead the fight to take back your home.” Jane tried her best to cheer the young girl up. It looked like it worked, as Tali glanced up at her before tilting her head and speaking with much more positivity.
“Huh, wouldn’t that be something. Admiral Tali’Zorah.” She looked happier, and even Kaidan picked up on it.
“Yeah, the title might just suit you. You’re sure good at fighting Geth as it is. If you’re good at teaching it, then you should.” Kaidan gave encouragement as he walked past, placing a polite hand on her shoulder before moving on. There was more on this floor to clear, another small doorway at the end of the large hall.
“Thanks..” Tali’s response was barely a whisper, and went missed by everyone but Jane, who couldn't help but smile. It didn’t seem like the girl received enough compliments, despite how much she clearly deserved them.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jane made her way to the front of the group, stopping just outside of the open doorway next to Wrex. He looked at her and gestured for her to go ahead.
“Shepard.” The simple response was all he gave.
Jane took the cue to take point, marching through the open doorway slowly. It was a short hall, leading to another stairwell. Her heart rate spiked as she got ready for another fight, and it climbed higher as no fight occurred. They made their way down the stairs this time, and in spite of preparing to be ambushed, no ambush came.
“So is anyone else mentally preparing to get ambushed? Because the lack of things happening has me on edge.” Kaidan says what was on everyone's mind. Wrex just grunts in response, while Tali nods in affirmative.
“Just stay ready, it could be we cleared them all, but until the entrance to the skyway is secure, be prepared for anything.” Jane’s orders were simple enough, and got a volley of yes Commander’s in response.
They descended three floors before they came across one that was marked with white paint. It was labelled ‘Vehicle Bay’. It was clearly the way they had to go to access the skyway. It was also the last room they had to secure to clear the tower for Zhu’s Hope. Shepard shouldered her shotgun, drawing out her pistol instead. She knew vehicle bays tended to be larger spaces. While she preferred the shotgun in most situations, there were times where you just needed more consistency at range.
So it was with a pistol raised and teammates at her back that Shepard entered the vehicle bay. There were no real signs of life, the bay appeared to be empty. There was a large armored Humvee, with a small cannon, which seemed like an early model of the Mako that sat in Shepards ship currently. But aside from that the room appeared unoccupied. There were several crates, as well as a maintenance area that could serve as cover if needed, but as of yet there wasn’t a need. Still they moved prepared for a fight.
As they moved further into the room there was one thing that stood out. At the back of the bay, around the corner and out of sight from the doorway they had come in was a large metal pod. It was white, and similar in shape and appearance to several of the Geth creations they had encountered, just larger than most.
“Tali, what are we looking at here?” Jane was immediately on guard. So far in the last 48 hours large metallic pods of different kinds have found unique and interesting ways to cause her mental and physical harm. Either by creating mindless horrific husks in combat, or by giving horrific unintelligible visions and then exploding. Once was a coincidence, but twice was a pattern, and Shepard would be damned before she let her guard down around one of these things again.
“Wish I could tell you. It doesn’t match any Geth designs I’ve studied, probably something new.” Tali looked equally cautious, keeping her pistol raised. The whole ground team was slowly spreading out, keeping their weapons raised and trained on the pod while they made their way to different points of cover.
“Is there a chance this is just the jammer we’ve been looking for and we are being overly cautious?” Kaidan made it to one of the large crates on the floor and was set up just to the side of it keeping his weapon trained.
“Hmph, Geth jammer, Geth robot. Both break when you shoot them. I say just open fire.” Wrex had taken cover beside the armored vehicle and raised his shotgun to prepare to fire before Tali spoke again, cutting him off from behind the workbench at the back wall of the room.
“Unless it’s a Geth bomb. Shooting a Geth bomb would be bad.” Wrex stopped in the middle of his action before simply holding the weapon ready at attention.
“Well what are we going to do, just sit here until it does something?” Wrex was clearly annoyed by being on the back foot, but still was waiting for a proper order.
“No. Tali, scan it. Either it starts moving and we shoot it or we learn what it does and we go from there.” The order was received by nods and Tali raised her omni tool before getting to work.
It did not take long for them to get the results. Several things happened at once. The first was Tali audibly gasping before starting to shout. The second was for the white metal pod to begin to hiss and split open. The third was all four members of the ground team opened fire at once. Tali's words were heard over local communications, “It’s a weapon, mobile walker, the files call it an Armature.”
Despite concentrated fire from four sources, there was no sign of the Geth weapon even taking damage. It split open across its base into four separate units. They spread out, opening and slamming into the floor and lifting the base off of the ground. The top part of this pod spun in a circle before breaking into two major units. There was a large body that lowered and fell into the middle of these four legs, and a longer thinner unit that split into a head and neck that turned and began to face their groups, the large glowing blue eye being the only source of light on the machine.
All of this happened quickly, and under a constant barrage of fire that was only ever interrupted by the necessary pauses to prevent the weapons from overheating. Despite this near constant barrage there is no sign it has had any effect on the large machine. Both Shepard and Kaidan attempted to throw biotic fields to attempt to lift, or push, or knock the thing off balance in some way, but the sheer weight of the robot made the attempts nearly ineffective only causing the large white behemoth to shift slightly on the spot.
Now that it was fully active however the consequence free shooting gallery that Shepards team had made was about to end. The Armature’s blue eye swept over the room, before focusing on where Kaidan had taken cover. It glowed brightly and then the room was filled with blinding night and deafening noise.
Jane was the only one who had pulled all the way into cover and even then she was still nearly blinded by the attack. The large metal crate Kaidan had been using for cover was blown to pieces, and Kaidan was lying against the wall at the back of the room, nearly 20 feet from where he had been before the blast. There was debris from the crate all over the place, metal shrapnel and metal slag scattered around the space.
Jane’s vision clouded as panic and rage set in. She couldn’t tell if Kaidan was alive or not from where she was, but he wasn’t moving. She made a choice quickly and without hesitation. Jane roared as she stepped out from cover and felt herself call her biotics forward. While traditional weapon fire didn’t seem to harm this thing, she only counted on biotic force being able to fill in the slack.
She moved faster than she had before. The biotics she manifested didn’t serve as a shield or barrier. She found it unlikely that this thing could make that same kind of attack more than once, and on the chance that Kaidan was okay she wasn’t going to allow it the freedom to attack him again. Instead of creating a barrier or a shield she focused on simply using the biotics to pull her forward like a bullet. Wrex said before that a Nova Charge traditionally exploded on its finale. Shepard didn’t know if that’s what she was doing, but she had an idea for how to mimic the idea.
Faster than any human could run she pulled herself forward directly at the armature, slamming her body shoulder first into one of its legs. The impact clearly hit with some force as the leg shifted, but that wasn’t its main objective. Upon impact with the Armatures leg she allowed the built up biotic energy to disperse, filling the immediate area with a blue mist and ambient energy. She then drew her hand forward, drawing all of that force, all of the gravitational energy directly into her palm, and then she released it in a punch directly against the Armatures leg. For the second time, the room was filled with light and a loud boom.
Jane was blown off her feet, the recoil from the attack threw her back into the chassis of the armored vehicle. Her body hurt like hell, and her arm felt like it might have been broken. She was certain that if she hadn’t been wearing the reinforced Spectre armor, it probably would have been blown right off. That said the Armature was showing its own damage for the first time this battle. The leg she had attacked, while still attached, was pretty wrecked. None of the white metallic shell remained, and the metal frame beneath was warped and bent beyond much use as anything other than an actual support.
Given how little damage they had managed so far, it was a hell of an attack. Unfortunately the damaged leg wasn’t enough to dismantle the Armature in whole. She should have aimed for center mass, but she had thought this attack would have been enough to separate the leg from the body. She was wrong, and as the Armature’s glowing blue eye looked down at her, she realized it was the last mistake she would make.
The light in the eye glowed for a moment, and Jane manifested as strong a biotic barrier as she could. She knew it wouldn’t hold up, but she would be damned if she would just lay there and take it. She made it out of Akuze, she’d fight this with the same ferocity she showed then.
The Armature’s eye glow reached its peak, and while Jane braced for the attack, it didn’t come. The Geth machine suddenly sparked, and convulsed slightly. The leg Jane had damaged gave out, and the machine fell against the floor as its balance was shot. Looking to her right Jane saw Tali running forward, typing furiously at her omni tool as she gave a look to Wrex who was taking the opportunity to charge in. She heard them talking.
“Overload worked to stall, keep it distracted. I'm going to see if I can hack or disable it.” Her voice lacked it’s usual softness or hesitancy. Tali sounded certain and gave the order without delay.
“Ha, please I’ll just break it myself, thanks for cracking that thing open Shepard. That armor was annoying.” Wrex said the words as he ran past, going straight for the damaged leg.
He placed a boot on the frame and then fired his shotgun multiple times into the joint where the leg met the central body. It took four separate shots, but eventually the limb was severed. Clanging against the floor. Not that the small victory slowed Wrex’s assault in the slightest, he instead turned his shotgun to the opening to the central unit that was now accessible by the hole where the leg used to be. He laughed with a manic glee while he fired again and again, scrap metal and bits of machine fluid flying out of the opening.
Meanwhile Tali climbed onto the fallen machine’s back, heading towards its neck where she found a gap in the white armor to reach in and manually connect her omni tool. It had stopped sparking at this point, but was still slow to respond, as clearly whatever Tali was doing was slowing it down.
Jane struggled, using her left arm to try and pull herself to her feet against the vehicle. It was difficult, and slow, but she managed to get to her feet. She reached down, grabbing the pistol she had dropped with her uninjured hand, and raised it. She fired multiple rounds, shot after shot directly into the flickering blue glowing light at the top of its eye stalk. She knew crippling its only method of attack would be essential.
But then she had a thought. It didn’t make sense for something that large to only have one method of attack. And why wouldn’t it have a protection against enemies getting close if it was so slow and vulnerable to it. Unless…
“Wait! Pull back It - “ Jane's order came a moment too late.
Suddenly the blue light at the top stopped flickering and a blast of blue energy was emitted from the machine. It only emitted 10 or so feet, but this was enough to launch Tali and Wrex away, sending Wrex slamming against the concrete wall next nearby, and Tali sailing through the air in an arc before she slammed against a pile of crates in the corner.
The Armature began to stand once more. While missing a leg seemed to be slowing it down, it could still manage to balance with the three it had left. It scanned the room with its eye stalk, before resting it’s view on Wrex. Apparently it assessed him as the most immediate threat from the damage he had been doing to the Machine’s interior. It began to glow and once again Jane acted without hesitation.
Four shots clanged off the white armor around the Armature’s head, and Shepard shouted out.
“HEY, DOWN HERE YOU OVERSIZED CALCULATOR.” The Armature slowly turned around to face Shepard, lowering it’s eye stalk to look her closer in the face.
“Yeah that’s right. All those little programs in your head and you still can’t figure out who the real threat is? The only reason your leg got so damaged was me. You want to finish someone off first, it better be me, because otherwise you're not getting out of here unless it's as scrap metal.” She spoke confidently, hoping to keep its attention.
Wrex was working his way to his feet. While it was slow, and clear he was at least partially injured from the impact, Jane trusted he would be able to finish it off. The Armature was actively leaking fluids out of the opening in its side. It wouldn’t take too much more to take it down. Even now she could see Tali working her way out of the boxes. Her omni tool was sparking, but she was raising her pistol to fight anyway.
Jane knew she had a good team. They could handle what came next if they needed too. This time she wasn’t going to be the sole survivor. She’d be the only casualty. She found some peace in that. Although she couldn’t help but admit that she wished she would have been there to stop Saren. She wanted to stop him with her own two hands.
The Armatures eye once again began to glow, and Jane manifested as strong a biotic barrier as she could. She would fight to live until the last moment, but if someone had to go, she’d rather it be her. The light manifested and Jane got ready for what would come next.
Suddenly there was a thick blast and a small detonation against the Armature’s head. It wasn't massive, but it had enough force to knock the heads aim off, and its beam attack missed, slamming into the wall just above the bay doors to this garage. The force of the blast was still strong, but these buildings were made out of strong enough material to survive 50,000 years of environmental wear and tear. It only blasted a small hole, raining some rubble down onto the floor.
Jane glanced over to the doorway, to see a relieving sight. Garrus had his rifle raised, barrel still smoking as he took a knee just inside the garage, clearly using the exit into the hall as cover. Ashley had her rifle raised and already began unloading fire into the side of the armature. Jenkins had stepped into the room and ran across the open floor of the garage, sliding into a stop next to where Jane was leaning against the vehicle.
“Hey Commander. Miss us?” Even walking into this situation he was still making jokes. Jane couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah, aha, I did. We need to take that thing down. It’s armored to hell and back, and its main attack packs a hell of a punch. That missing leg and hole was all we could manage.” Jane was glad to see the rest of her team, but she didn’t know how to go about destroying this thing.
“Okay, destroy the big robot, got it. How do we do that?” He had stepped into a bit of cover beside the vehicle and was holding up his omni tool. It looked different then hers, the full unit was more sleek and instead of a holographic screen it was projecting a holographic sphere that spun in place.
“I don’t know. We’ll beat it eventually, but a battle of attrition will be costly. We just don’t have the firepower to take it down in one shot.” Jane was wracking her brain for a plan, anything that could take this thing out before it killed someone.
‘Commander. This vehicle, It’s a Mako model. It has a cannon!” Jenkins was scanning the environment as well, his face lighting up as he realized. Jane couldn’t help but find the enthusiasm contagious. She smiled as well, as a plan was formed. She spoke into her comms.
“Team, we are going to blow this thing to pieces, I just need you to buy me a minute of time. Wrex, take out the other back leg, bring it down. Tali, throw as many explosives as you can, focus on the head, don’t let it charge up that attack. Garrus, Ashley, dump as many rounds as you can into that opening on its side. Jenkins, keep it overloaded or stunned as long as possible.” She gave her orders as she began climbing up the back of the Mako. It had a hatch access at the top.
She could hear the sounds of sudden blasts going off as Tali began to throw explosives at the machine's head, each blast causing it to shake and lose whatever concentration it needed to make another beam attack. She opened that hatch on the top and plopped inside just in time to hear the clang of machinery slamming into the ground as Wrex ignored his shotgun in favor for a good old Krogan tackle directly into the Armatures back leg, causing it to tumble onto its side at an angle.
She started the vehicle, thanking whatever maker may have existed that the keys were left inside, and began to turn around the turret. She could see Ashley and Garrus just pumping ammunition into the hole on the Armatures side. Unfortunately judging by the lack of explosions Tali had run out of grenades and was only shooting round after round into the back of its head. It wasn’t enough of a distraction however, as Shepard could see the eye glowing as stared directly at where Ashley and Garrus were shooting from. The cannon was going to be too slow.
It was both a surprise and a relief when a massive steel storage crate smashed into the side of the armatures head, and looking out the side window Jane could see Kaidan on a knee. He was holding a hand against his side, but the other one was raised as he was surrounded by a faint glowing blue energy.
The cannon of her vehicle clicked into place, centred directly on the main body of the Armature. Jane smiled as she pressed the trigger ready to end this thing. This was followed by a curse as the device began to buzz. It was an older model, and its cannon could not fire freely. It needed a second to charge the generators to activate the super magnets for its rail-gun. She cursed again as she watched the Armature's eye begin to flicker firmly. It was going to do another pulse attack, likely a larger one given the intensity she could see gathering. She looked down hoping the Cannon would charge in time when suddenly the Armature seized.
Thick bolts of electricity shot from underneath its white armor, followed by a burst of flame that made the thing look as though it had suddenly combusted. She smiled as she saw Jenkins furiously typing away at his omni tool, and took an even greater pleasure in the sound of the rail-gun generators reaching full charge.
“Goodbye.” Jane pressed the trigger to fire, and a thumping sound was all that was heard.
The projectile moved too fast to be tracked by the human eye, but its effect was seen by everyone. The center mass of this Armature had a massive hole punched right through it, large enough that you could see clearly out the other side. It was so sudden that it actually took a second for Armature itself to notice. As the electricity and flames that had been spewing from its body died down, it collapsed finally. The light going out and every limb falling limply onto the ground.
Jane breathed a sigh of relief, finally leaning back against her seat. She could feel the pain in her body already climbing as the adrenaline began to fade.. Jenkins and their newest arrivals were basically uninjured, and she knew that they had managed to successfully clear the tower. She felt confident that they would make sure everyone got treatment as the darkness slowly took her. She passed out with a smile. Nobody died, that’s all that mattered to her.