Infiltration - Part 7

"Team one, are you ready?" Thomson said via the ship's radio to the fleet of fighters, frigates and battle cruisers behind him. There were three hundred of them in the team in total, against a few hundred Dreadnoughts. It'd be tough, but possible.
The Alliance fighters were not the only ships of that class in the team. Small, metal, insect-like Geth ships also joined them. There was also Asari-class frigates alongside the Alliance ones, a group of Salarian recon ships, a Turian destroyer, then, of course, Destiny Ascension.
Destiny Ascension was an Asari class Dreadnought. Rumoured to be the most powerful ship in existence, the Citadel had just sent its flagship to help in the battle.
Even though Sovereign, the Reaper who attacked the Citadel with the Geth, had nearly destroyed it, due to its lack of close range guns, Thomson was confident that they could put the largest and strongest ship in existence to some use. In fact, it was stationed just behind the Falcon as they made their descent towards the Salarian home world, with its long range cannon ready to fire.
Sur'Kesh was below them. A large, glowing orb that extended as far as they could see, glistening blue and green in the light of its closest star.
"Keep to the plan," he told them, "Wait for my signal."
"Team one away," said Thomson, and the three hundred starships split off from the much larger group, and began dropping towards the surface, with the Falcon in the lead.

Emi struggled against her restraints as she woke up in a dark room and unable to move. But there was nothing she could do. They were too tight.
"... Hello...?" she called into the darkness.
"Emi...?" Bei's voice answered, "Are you there?"
"... I'm here... I gave him my codes... He forced me to... Where am I...?"
"I don't know..." Bei responded, "But I'm sure we'll be fine..."
A gentle hum began from inside her suit.
"... What's that?"
"I don't know... I can hear your suit buzzing... Keelah mine's doing it too."
"... I know this... They've got into our suit... They'll turn us into slaves..."
"No... No matter what happens... Don't let them break us... Fight it..."
Moments later, their screams began as their suit's nerve stimulation systems went on overload.

"Incoming transmission," said the pilot of the Dreadnought, "Two, in fact. One is from the other fleet. The second..."
"The second?" Alpha questioned.
"Uh... It seems to be from the SF-2 Falcon. Demanding our immediate surrender."
Alpha laughed, "He is such an idiot."

The small Falcon hovered in front of the large, heavily armed Dreadnoughts, surrounded by mountains and forested valleys. The planet looked both familiar and alien at the same time, having the same key characteristics of forests on Earth, but yet was as equally strange. A cloud of fog sat behind the ship.
"This is the SF-2," said Thomson into the radio, communicating with the lead ship, "Surrender or you will be fired upon."
The reply came a moment later, "Do your worst. You have no weapons that can get through our armour."
"No," said Thomson, "But this does."
Destiny Ascension came into view behind the relatively tiny vessel, appearing out of the fog, aiming its large cannon at the single Dreadnought. The canon was over ninety percent of the length of the ship. And since the ship had been built to house 10,000 people, it was a pretty large gun.
"Sovereign defeated that once," Alpha pointed out, "With weaker vessels than we have now. We'll do it again."
"Don't be so sure."
The group of fighters, frigates, recon ships and the destroyer came out of the fog in battle formation.
The Dreadnoughts began firing their main weapons. Destiny Ascension fired its main gun and a blue beam of energy struck a Dreadnought in the middle, exploding it instantly.
Thomson piloted the Falcon so he moved into a v formation with the other frigates. Each fired their cannons, dotting the hulls of the Dreadnoughts with explosions. The fighters swooped in the gaps between the large vessels, targeting the fact the Dreadnoughts were pretty incapable of extremely close range fire.
The cannons on the Dreadnoughts shot Destiny Ascension, and blue ripples spread across the surface of its shields. The large ship fired again, taking out another Dreadnought.
The frigates tilted on their sides and did alike to the fighters, dodging between the large ships, continuously firing their cannons in attempt to get through their armour.
The first ships went down. Two fighters flying in formation, taken out by a Dreadnought towards the rear of the group.

"Break off. Tell the fleet to get down here so we can assault the Flotilla," said Alpha.
"Roger that," the pilot responded.

Thomson saw the Dreadnought break formation and began to follow it, steering away from the frigates. He activated the Falcon's stealth drive, preventing ships from targeting them.
He turned to Five, "Take the wheel, and if she gets damaged in any way, I'm not going to be happy."
The Falcon moved above the large Dreadnought as Five moved to the pilot's seat, "Where are you going?" Five asked as Thomson walked out of the cockpit.
"Down," he responded, "Remain in radio contact."

The cargo bay door slid down. The wind on Sur'Kesh was surprisingly powerful, making Thomson stumble slightly.
"Get me as close as you can," he said into the radio inside his helmet.
The massive Dreadnought came into view, with its grey armour glistening. The Falcon moved so it was only a matter of metres away from the top of the ship.
Thomson jumped.

Alpha saw the Falcon pass over the cockpit of his Dreadnought.
"He's here," he said to Vengeance.

Thomson sprinted along the top of the Dreadnought, using his biotics to root himself down on the hull of the ship. Explosions dotted the sky. Several ships on both sides had been destroyed.
He ran to the nearest hatch and turned the handle, making it swing open.
Thomson entered the Dreadnought.
And immediately hit the airlock.
"Screw this," he sighed, and used a shockwave to knock the door open.
There was a metallic clatter as the door hit the interior of the ship. He drew his pistol and followed the door down.
Alpha stood looking at him.
"Hello Thomson. You just missed your girlfriend's screams."
"Where is she, you bastard?" he hissed, "Let her go, now."
"Oh," Alpha laughed, "I don't think so."
Thomson heard two gunshots, and he grunted in pain as a stabbing sensation began coming from his stomach. He fell forward and landed on the floor, hands immediately putting pressure on the wound.
He turned to see the person who had shot him.
Renswick. Looking exactly as he had when he hadn't been all Reaper-ised. His skin was a darker colour, similar to a Krogan, and tendrils of biotic energy seemed to be originating from his entire body continuously.
"Hello, old friend," Renswick said.

"Emi..." said Bei, "Can you get free?"
The pain had stopped a few minutes beforehand, but it was the first time they had talked. Emi was sobbing uncontrollably. There was a large pool of tears at her feet, which glistened in the little ambient lighting they had.
"... N... N... N... No," she cried, "... All I can do is activate my Omni-tool... I'm so useless... I'll be killed..."
"Emi, that isn't useless. It acts as a solid object. You might be able to free your hand."
"... Oh... Sorry I'm stupid... I'm such a bosh'tet..."
"Emi, you can't insult yourself. Just activate the damn tool."
An orange glow lit up the darkness. There was the sound of something hitting the floor.
"... I'm out..." said Emi, "... Now what?"
"Free me," said Bei, "Come on."
Emi used the light of her Omni-tool to guide her to Bei. She activated Bei's Omni-tool, which broke her restraints. She too hit the floor.
"... Now how do we get out of here?" Emi asked.
Bei took a sticky grenade from her pouch, "Easy."

"You really think we'd be so stupid to attack the Migrant Fleet with a few hundred ships?" Alpha laughed, "No. We have a hundred and twelve thousand. All in orbit around the planet and ready for my signal."
Thomson gasped for air, his breaths quick and short, "And you... Thought I was stupid enough... To only bring a few hundred ships to fight you... There are... A hundred and seven thousand... All attacking yours right now..."
Renswick laughed, "That isn't enough. Your girlfriend is broken, your ships will be destroyed, I have no disadvantage."
"... Yes... Yes you do..." he said, then whispered into his helmet, "Revenge... Start attack..."
"What are you doing?" Renswick questioned, a few moments later, "How can you be inside the network?"
"... Three... powerful... Reapers..."
"You really didn't think this through. My presence within the network is unmatched. They can stop my outgoing signals, indeed. But I can delete their entire consciousness," Renswick said, standing up, "I have already dispatched Sovereign. I'm now battling Revenge and Harbinger at the same time."
"You... will... lose... they're... powerful..."
"You're right. I will lose. Alpha, I'm going to my quarters so I can shut down my body to focus my processing power. You stay here. If he moves, shoot him."
"Yes sir."

Emi and Bei moved through the interior of the ship, searching for Thomson. They had encountered so far only a few crew members, all of which they had hidden from.
Bei had two pistols in her pouch. She had given Emi one of them, and kept the other for her self. Emi wasn't sure how to use one. From seeing Thomson and in the events of Tuchanka, she knew how to hold one in the right direction instead of pointing it at herself. But she wasn't sure how to aim, or how to fire. The little... curved pull-y button on the handle seemed to be promising, though knowing her it ejected the cooling thing-ies.
Thomson had tried to explain it to her, though she never got the hang of it.
"... Bei..." she whispered, "... How do you use a gun?"
"You pull the trigger," Bei responded, "The curved lever which is near the handle."
"... The pull-y thing?"
"Yes, Emi. The pull-y thing."
"... Ok, thanks..."
"I think we're near the cockpit," Bei said, "But we still have a lot of ground to cover. You know how to use a weapon, now. So we can split up. Ok?"
"... Bei... I'm no soldier..."
"You don't have to be. Just keep hiding and find Thomson."
She really didn't want to be left on her own, "... Bei please stay with me..."
"It'll take hours otherwise. Just go and check the cockpit. There won't be anyone there but the pilot."
"... But..."

"I would follow Vengeance's orders," Alpha said, "But I think he is blinded by revenge."
"... You... could... say... that..." Thomson gasped. His fingers were covered in his own blood.
Alpha raised his pistol.

Epsilon snuck behind the two Quarians, unknown to them, as they tried searching the ship. He presumed they were the ones Revenge had talked about, so wasn't going to kill them. But they were heading the right way to the cockpit, so they would provide extra targets for his enemies. That is, if he needed them.
There was a series of hushed conversations and then the two Quarians split up. One less extra target, but it didn't matter.

"I grew up as a boy on the streets on Earth," said Alpha, "And here I am, about to kill a Spectre. It's funny how things turn out, huh?"
The gang leader pushed the barrel of his pistol directly into Thomson's forehead.
A small and quiet voice in the corner whispered, "... Come on you bosh'tet of a..."
Alpha turned and there was a loud gunshot in the cockpit. There was the sound of three objects hitting the floor. One was Alpha with a hole in his neck. The second was Alpha's gun. The third was Emi after knocking herself out due to the recoil of the weapon which had hit her in the face.
A man walked into the room, who wore similar armour to Five, "Holy crap. What happened here?"
"... Epsilon... right?"
The man nodded, "I'm going to give you some medigel. It'll take a while to heal, by the looks of it, but you won't die."
Epsilon took a canister of medigel from his belt and jammed it into Thomson's wound, emptying half of it in one hole, and the remainders in the second. A flood of relief spread through his body as the painkillers took effect.
It took a while to get to his feet, but he eventually managed with help from Epsilon. The clotting agent seemed to have worked, as he was no longer leaking blood.
He staggered over to Emi, instinctively clutching his stomach. He knelt down next to her and took her in his arms.
"Thank... You," he said to Epsilon, "We... Need... to warn the Migrant Fleet."
"Already done. They've retreated back through the Mass Relay. It'll take longer for their fleet to catch them."
He cradled Emi's head, as she began to stir.
"... What... What happened?" she asked, her voice groggy and tired.
"You... killed the... gang leader and saved my life," he told her.
"... Oh keelah I killed someone... Are you ok?"
She began crying and he cuddled her closely, "Yes... I'm fine. Just got some holes... in my stomach..."
"... Keelah... I'm so, so, so sorry... I should have come here before its all my fault..."
"No... It's... Their fault... What happened to... You?"
"... They tied me up and hacked into my suit... It was painful... I couldn't stop screaming... Though towards the end I gave in..."
He held her tightly, "I... Should have... Come sooner... They said... You were broken..."
She shook her head, "... I came close... I think I'd have done anything for them to stop... But I'm still me... I don't think I'll trust any humans but you though..."
"I... Need to get Renswick and finish this..."
"... No... You're injured..."
"I... Need to... Once... And for all... I can still use... Biotics..."
"... Please stay with me..."
"You're in this mess because of me," he said, "I'm going... To make sure he'll never put you in danger again..."
"... I killed someone for you... Which I'll never forgive myself for... And you won't stay..."
"Emi... I can't... I need to make sure you're safe..."

Thomson half staggered out of the cockpit and began making his way to Renswick's quarters.
Emi sobbed and curled up on the floor, hugging her knees... She had killed someone... A bad person... But still a person...
Was she really still herself? She didn't kill people... Ever... She couldn't even remember doing it... She remembered the gun in her hand then... Nothing...
Maybe she was broken...
"Are you ok?" asked the man who had been stood next to Thomson.
She only shook her head in response and hugged herself tighter.
She killed the man in cold blood to save Thomson's life... And she didn't even get a thank you...
The man sat down next to her, "I am guessing you have never killed someone."
Emi shook her head again, holding her helmet with her hands. Her hands that would be forever stained with blood...
She cried silently in her suit, just wanting the world to leave her alone. She was a murderer. She had slaughtered a person...
The pool of blood from the leader of the gang leader had been seeping towards her, but it now began soaking her feet. She didn't care. She was a murderer. A cold killer. And Thomson was nowhere to be seen.
"If you're worried about Thomson not being here," the man said, "Don't. Do you know what he did for you?"
She shook her head, "... Leave me alone..."
"He rallied over a hundred thousand ships to get you. You know how many people that is?"
"... A hundred thousand ships...?"
"Yes. They show up on the monitor. There are a hundred and seven thousand, two hundred and fifty five ships in battle with Alpha's fleet."
"... He got... For me...?"
"Just for you."
"... But... He..."
The man shrugged, "I don't know what he's done, but he got them all for you. I know that much."

Thomson began to walk normally without having to hold on to the side of the wall to keep himself standing. The wound had in no way healed, it'd take days for that to happen, but it at least it didn't hurt.
"Revenge," he said, "What's happening in the network?"
"He has counterattacked. Sovereign and Harbinger are disabled. I'm the only one left," came the reply, "But I'm doing well."
Thomson stepped into Renswick's quarters with his pistol raised.