Final Drills

"That might be possible, if there are only a few around, but I imagine it would be difficult if there was any significant number." Shae answers. "Get too many in one place, and their network gets too strong."

"Unless something was blocking their networking," Reimi remarks. "Like something that scrambles systems and communications."

"If I had to guess, I'd say the Geth are the ones scrambling everything; so its probably something that won't affect their network." Shae offers as the tram nears the dig site. In the distance, gunfire could begin to be heard, though it was faint.

"Everyone else hears that too, right?" Reimi asks, once again bringing up her scope to check the distance ahead of them.

"I hear it. Gunfire." Shae answers, moving to the front of the tram.

"I hear it too." Graal agrees, making sure his shotgun was loaded.

Even using the scope, there wasn't anything to see, so whatever was happening must be happening outside of sight lines; behind a building or down a hill perhaps.

"Nothing more than sounds," Reimi reports, once again lowering her rifle. "Definitely activity, though..."

"Gives us a direction at least, we're not wandering around in search of clues." Barrow offers, "We can just follow the sounds of gunfire."

As the tram arrived at the end of the line, there was still no signs of the source of the sounds; but it was louder.

With no sight on whatever was firing, Reimi turned to her omnitool, scanning for any broadcasts she could find, be it Geth networking, the Alliance team they were there to extract, or the source of the jamming signal.

There were signs of Geth networking ahead, though anything else was being jammed or scrambled; making it impossible to determine what anything else was. There was one other signal however, but it was unlike anything seen before.

"Geth networking, and... something else," Reimi remarks. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Something not Geth then, be ready for anything." Shae says as the tram slowed and then stopped at the end of the line. The gunshots were louder now, easy enough to follow without any equipment.

The mystery signal was closer, emanating from what appeared to be some kind of shattered pillar. Further beyond in, there were a horde of geth surrounding a prefab unit; the windows broken out as gunfire was returned from inside. The door appeared to be locked, but there were geth attempting to hack it open.

While their mission was to extract their targets, it seemed likely the Geth were between them and whoever it was. Stopping them from breaking into the prefab seemed like the first step, so Reimi set about gaining control of one of the drones hacking the lock.

Though it was much more difficult than hacking the LOKI on Ganymeade, Reimi was able to successfully infiltrate the Geth drone that was attempting to open the prefab door. This did however send a notice through the Geth network, making all the platforms in the area aware of the hack and that someone was targeting their systems. Some of the platforms began to look and scan around, finding the squad on the short hill behind them.

Most of the Geth turned on them and began to spread out, getting out of the pincer between the quartet and the fire from the window. Barrow was quick to find cover and toss out his turret, while Graal and Shae started down the hill towards the Geth.

While Reimi could send the drone she'd gained control of against the others, that would immediately give away its identity. Keeping it hidden and working against them would mean the Geth would need to spend processing power trying to fish out the culprit. Since the unit was busy hacking the door, she made sure it kept doing so, but in an effort to reinforce the security.

Once that was done, she turned her focus back to her sniper rifle, joining in the fight with the rest of her squad.

The Geth were very logic minded creatures, operating on a hive mind for decision making. As the hack drone continued to work, the nearest Geth simply destroyed it; it was no longer doing what they wished it to, and so it had no value. Now they could offer their attention to the threats around them. They tried to assess for the largest threat, each platform working with the information from their point of view.

The first decision was the largest target; Graal, as he barreled down the hill towards them. While the others opened fire on the Krogan, prompting Shae to jump ahead of him with her Backlash shield, one Geth seemed to be waiting and watching.

With time to watch and analyze the battle, that one of the Geth wasn't participating told Reimi it had other objectives, which was bad for them. Lining up her sights, she let a shot fly at the drone's head, looking to eliminate it.

Moments before Reimi had fired upon the drone, its head and looked towards her; almost as if looking right back through her scope. It ducked the shot and tucked behind a nearby wall. It no longer had line of sight to her, making its job of warning other Geth impossible without a new position.

Graal's shotgun, something he claimed to have made himself; sent flying a barrage of serrated metal that drove into a Trooper's chestplate and knocking it off its feet.

The actions of the Geth drone Reimi had shot at surprised her; she'd never seen one act that way, and wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but didn't like any of the possible reasons. Without that one to target, she had to pick a new target, but instead of firing a bullet from her rifle, she used its scope to line up a shot for her Energy Drain.

Without a lookout to watch for other attackers, the geth weren't quite as evasive and their focus was on Graal and Shae still. Though it was safe to say they were aware of Reimi and Barrow up on the hill. The Energy Drain struck true, sapping the Trooper's shields and stunning is as the current surge through its platform; which left it open to a devastating explosion of biotic energy.

While Reimi had expected her Energy Drain to finish off the drone, it did serve to temporarily enhance her own protection. Wanting to take advantage of that, she drew her assault rifle, stepped around the corner and sprayed the Geth's position with gunfire.

The suppressing fire was enough to have the Geth on the defensive, allowing Graal and Shae to get closer. They were now the ones backed into a corner, the Geth Troopers struggling to maintain any kind of offensive against the new arrivals.

The gunfire from inside the prefab unit had stopped, though likely only because they didn't have any clear shots on the hiding machines. As Delta Squad advanced, they quickly thinned the numbers of the Geth; until only a pair of the mobile platforms remained.

With Graal and Shae taking advantage of Reimi's long range assault rifle fire, she didn't need to duck back into cover like she'd expected when her boosted shields expired. Her best role seemed to be sticking with her suppressive fire, though she didn't fire as much, needing to keep some ammo for the return trip and investigating once the team was secure.

The Geth's attention was on Graal and Shae, though it was very likely that the network was aware of Reimi and Barrow on the hill; the latter relying more on his drone and turret than his own guns.

The Asari's Backlash shield soon broke, but not before she was able to destroy one of the geth with its own gunfire.

Reimi wasn't close enough to provide cover for Shae, and with three drones left, there was too many for any of her abilities to be completely useful. She had to do something, though, and only one option really gave the team an advantage. With this in mind, she turned back to sabotage, taking control of one of the three remaining drones to fight the other two.

With so few troopers left, and one of them hacked, their resistance didn't last long; Delta Squad soon wiping them out and clearing a route to the prefab unit. The door was still locked however, and would need to be hacked open, or released from the inside.

Shae kept her pistol in hand while approaching the building, watchful for Geth reinforcements.