Chapter 5!

Now where was I...

The geth streamed into the room, guns blazing as they rushed forward to lay waste to the two before them. Shepard drew his shotgun and took cover behind the mangled crate next to him. Tali ducked down behind the bomb, using it as a shield while still trying to defuse it. Shredder rounds flew over Shepard's head as he tried to return fire. He peered over the layer of metal that seperated him from certain death and tried to see just how badly they were outnumbered.

"Four...six...nine...eleven troopers..."

A red jet of light ricocheted off of the crate, inches from the Specter's head.

"And a sniper that is really pissing me off."

Shepard reached into his belt and pulled out a grenade. He pulled the pin, and the explosive flashed red as he threw it at two oncoming geth. The fusion explosive tore through the synthetics, severing a few limbs as it detonated at their feet. Shepard jerked back into cover and blindfired with his shotgun, spraying incinerary rounds at his foes. His weapon promptly overheated, giving the geth the oppritunity to raise up and fire at him. Shepard stayed behind the crate, waiting for his weapon to cool off. He turned to Tali, who was still trying to defuse the bomb.

"How much longer?" Shepard asked.

Tali answered without looking up from her omni-tool. "Five minutes, maby less."

Shepard pumped and readied his shotgun. "Let's hope for less."

He raised up again, catching one unsuspecting geth off-gaurd. The trooper paid for his mistake by taking two slugs in the chest, the armor piercing rounds ripping him to pieces. The nine other enemies quickly scrambled back in a desprate search for some form of protection as they saw their comrade hit the ground. Shepard caught one with a shotgun round, but the trooper's kinetic barriers intercepted the bullets, and he was able to evade any damage by diving behind a deposit of iron ore.

"Damn," Shepard swore. Shepard activated a carnage round in his shotgun, and he fired it at the enemy who had eluded him. The high-explosive round broke through the slab of rock, showering the trooper with superheated metal and stone. The geth tried to raise his arm for another shot, but it fell, and he moved no more.

The carnage had once more over heated Shepard's shotgun, and the lone sniper saw his oppritunity to pick off his adversary. He rasied up and sighted his weapon, aiming straight at the commander. Shepard closed his eyes and braced himself, but the expected impact didn't come. Instead, he heard three rounds fired in rapid succession and opened his eyes just in time to see them slam into the sniper's chest. Another trooper had raised up to do the same, but Shepard caught him in a biotic lift, suspending him in the air. Two more rounds caught the trooper right in the head, leaving a hole in the middle of the geth's eye, or whatever the hell that flashlight thing was.

Shepard turned once more to Tali, who had just deactivated the marksman on her new weapon. The HMWSG pistol was giving her a good deal of accuracy, and the Quarian was using every bit of it.

Shepard mouthed the words, "Thank you," and made a mental note to not let his gun overheat again.

Tali nodded, holstered her pistol, and went back to defusing the bomb. Shepard peered over the crate and counted how many were left.

"Two...four...six. Halfway there."

Shepard suddenly had an idea. He readied his shotgun, raised up, and fired as fast as he could at anything that moved. The geth didn't even fire back. They simply waited for what had happened before, and they knew would happen again. Shepard knew that they knew it, but it failed to stop him from unloading eight rounds into rock and metal before his weapon made the distinct sound that told its user that it was spent.

Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!

Overheated. A trooper heard the sound of the gun, the signal that the marine was defenseless, and sighted its weapon for the kill. Shepard, in one quick move, dropped his shotgun, drew his pistol, and placed five shots in the enemy. The first three dropped the kinetic barriers, and the next two hit the geth unchecked by any shields.

Shepard smiled. "I feel like Clint Eastwood." He immediately discarded the thought.

In spite of the damage, the trooper remained standing, its weapon still raised for the kill. Shepard formed a claw with his free hand. His palm glowed a flourescent blue, which ran up his arm, and eventually illuminated his entire body. He thrust his hand straight at the wounded geth, which flew backwards at an unnatural speed and inpacted another one of his comrades behind him. Both hit the wall and fell to the floor, motionless.

The remaining four geth proved to be tough. They had now moved to either side of the two members of the Normandy, and were trying to flank them. Tali had deactivated her omni-tool, and she now took cover beside Shepard. The two were pinned down, and there was no way to get in a shot at the geth. If they didn't do something, they were doomed. Shepard's kinetic barriers took several hits, almost entirely depleting them. They made the same sound his shotgun did.

Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!

Shepard looked around the room for an escape. He found none. Everything was pure cacophony. Rounds screamed over their heads. The two could only wait as the geth's bullets grew closer and closer, from a foot away to ten inches, to five, and then one. The commander searched for something that could get them out of this.

The idea came suprisingly easily. The walls.

Shepard turned to face Tali. "Shoot the walls!"

Tali didn't seem to understand. "What? Why!?"

Shepard's kinetic barriers dropped to absolute zero.

"SHOOT THE WALLS!"

There was no questioning that. The two opened fire on the cavern, blasting away at the layer of stone and metal that now held them. The entire mine began to shake, and the stone wall began to break apart. Boulders that weighed as much as half a ton rolled down, breaking apart as they hit the floor. The geth, unprotected and unexpecting, were helpless. A rain of iron and granite descended upon them, crushing the synthetics where they stood. Shepard and Tali laid low and waited for the avalance to subside. When the dust cleared, there were no more geth standing.

Tali ran back to the bomb and resumed defusing it. Shepard tried to contact Garrus and Wrex.

"Garrus, Wrex, report!" There was no response for a time. Then, the comm crackled to life. Garrus was speaking, and there was gunfire in the background, even more so than before. To add to the confusion, the comm was being partially jammed by something.

"Commander! The geth...inside! We can't...much longer! Th...too many fo...ut...Get...out..."

Shepard didn't hear most of what Garrus said, but he understood what he did. They didn't have much time.

"Tali, how much longer? The geth are inside!"

Tali was working vigorously. "I just need another minute!"

Shepard could hear the geth right above him.

"We don't have another minute!"

Shepard sighed, frusterated. "Tali, hurry up! How much longer?!"

The Quarian responded quckly. "We have ninety seconds until detonation! Most of it is inactive, but it still has enough power to kill both of us!"

The elevator now moved up its shaft. The geth were coming down, and there were a lot more than twelve topside.

Shepard couldn't wait any longer. "Tali, leave it! We need top head for the escape tunnel, now!"

Despite her commander's order, Tali remained where she was. "I can do this!"

Shepard grabbed Tali's arm, deactivating her omni-tool. "NOW!"

The two sprinted for the exit. The tunnel doors flew open, revealing a long, narrow passage with a faint trace of light emerging from the other end. They raced torwards it, not once looking back. Echos of the events behind them rebounded throught the cave. The bomb's timer was slow and steady, counting down the seconds until the end of the complex's existance.

"Thirty seconds!"

The elevator shaft sounded again. More geth were on the way down, unknowing of the firey judgement that awaited them. An entire army marched outside, bringing the same end to the two that now fled. Gears turned, motors worked, feet hit the ground, all bringing the enemy ever closer. The light was growing, and Shepard could now see outside, could see the desolate paradise of Solcrum just beyon reach.

"Twenty seconds!"

Shepard's thoughts turned to Wrex and Garrus. If they were at the pickup zome, if they even made it out at all. Nothing was sound in his mind as this apocolypse drew near, and nothing could stop it. The sound of the elevator doors told Shepard that the geth were inside now, searching the cavern for the enemy that could do them no harm, standing next to the threat that would destroy them.

"And maby us too," thought Shepard.

Tali's voice sounded again. "Five seconds!"

The light grew closer. And closer. And closer...

The walls began to shake. The ground beneath thier feet trembled, and soon the tremors grew into an earthquake. A second light grew behind them, bringing death and destruction instead of safety and hope. The heat from the blast was unbearable. Sweat ran down the back of Shepard's neck, stinging his scar. The sweltering flames rose behind them, ready to devour them, to consume them in one fell swoop. They were no more than a stride from the exit.

"Tali, JUMP!"

Shepard threw himself into the air and hit the ground with a thud. The flames rushed over his head with a terrifying roar. Embers scorched his back again and again, and just when it seemed that Shepard couldn't take any more, the fire died. With an effort, Shepard struggled to his feet.

His first thought was of Tali. Quickly, he searched for the Quarian and turned to see her laying a few yards away. Her armor was charred black from the explosion, and Shepard discovered that his was too. Tali was trying to get up with more of an effort that Shepard had made. He could only respect the Quarian's perserverance. Finally, Tali rose. She spoke with an air of frustration and annoyance.

"Shepard, what were you thinking? I could have defused that bomb!"

Tali was the only one that was bold enough to question Shepard's command, and oddly, Shepard respected her even more for it. She wasn't afraid to stand up to athourity.

"Well, now the geth think that we're dead. That will make it easier to get away," Shepard replied gently.

Tali's look of convivtion changed to one of humility. Her head sunk. "Shepard...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get off this piece of rock."

Tali looked up and nodded. Shepard tried his comm, but there was still interferance. Tali drew her pistol and prepared for an attack.

"Relax," said Shepard. "It's just the explosion messing with the radio. We need to get to higher ground."

With that, the two holstered their weapons and began to hike over the hill harboring the now-destroyed escape tunnel. The hill was fairly steep, and there were a few instances where Shepard or Tali lost their footing, but after a few minutes, they reached the mesa's peak. Once they were on top, they had a full view of Solcrum's barren plains. The tunnel had indeed led them into the mountains.

"Shepard, look!" cried Tali. She pointed to a column of smoke rising in the distance.

It was the base, now reduced to a pile of rubbel. Shepard's comm now came to life once again. It was Joker.

"Normandy to shore party, do you copy? Shore party, do you read?"

"Yeah, were here Joker," Shepard answered.

"Commander, thank God! When we saw the blast, we thought that..." Joker didn't finish the thought.

Shepard didn't either. "Where are you Joker?"

"Just picked up Garrus and Wrex, and we're headed to your position right now. Wrex caught one in the foot, so he's with Doc. ETA, about...now actually."

Shepard looked up to see the SSV Normandy descending torwards them. He had never been so happy to see his ship before, and the Specter was eager to get out of his armor.

"Man, the first thing I'm going to do when I get on board is-"

BOOM!

Shepard looked up just in time to see an explostion rock the side of the Normandy. The projectile barely missed the thrusters, and it slammed into the hull, bypassing the ship's shields.

"The Normandy's hit!" shouted Joker.

Shepard knew that another anti-aircraft missle like that could tear the ship to pieces. The entire crew could be stranded or killed, and there would be no way to call for help. He radioed Joker and made a split-second decision.

"Joker, get out of here! Don't worry aobut us!"

"But Commander," the pilot protested.

"NOW!" It was not a suggestion, it was an order.

Shepard saw the Normandy hover for a few seconds, then ascend into the sky, dissappearing into the atmosphere. A second missle barely missed the ship as it fled. The vessel grew smaller and smaller until it faded into the stars, leaving the two on the mountainous wasteland.

"Shepard, Tali," Joker said in agony. "We'll come back for you. I promise."

And that's chapter 5.

Now it's time for them to make their great escape. I promise that it's going to be awesome.