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Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead
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Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,
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—
Artemis Tau
Knossos System
Therum
"Commander, why did you say it was going to be awkward to meet Liara T'soni back at the Citadel?"
"You'll learn soon enough, Alenko." Shepard refused to clarify, leaving the team curious as they descended on Therum to find the daughter of Matriarch Benezia.
The journey to the system was spent getting to know his new teammates. Ashley was xenophobic due to Shanxi, where her grandfather, General Williams, surrendered to the Turians to preserve the lives of his men and was made into a scapegoat.
Garrus was frustrated with all the red tape and political bullshit that stonewalled him at every turn and wanted to actually do some good for the galaxy. He wasn't the typical, follow-the-orders-to-the-letter kind of Turian, which worked for Shepard.
Tali was a sweet and shy Quarian on a pilgrimage, and the chance to study the Geth would be one hell of a gift to the Migrant Fleet. She was an expert in mechanics and was handy with a shotgun as well, though she kept asking Shepard about the laser rifles and the anti-gravity generator nonstop.
Wrex was a mercenary who had enough of his people's bullshit and their refusal to see reason, so he left Tuchanka to wander the galaxy and get into fights, just as many other Krogan do. He was grumpy but an excellent warrior, and his age was proof of that.
He took Alenko and Garrus with him since the Mako was too small to fit more than three people. Shepard had tried to convince the project that a heavily armored shuttle would be more useful, but apparently it would be too big for Normandy's bay and was rejected.
Currently, the team was heading to the location where Joker had detected some weird readings. The ride was going smoothly until a Geth dropship came swooping down to drop some heavy units before taking off again.
They didn't offer much trouble to the APC. Say what you will about it, Mako was well armed and offered really good protection.
Further ahead, Geth had built a gate to blockade the road and had three defensive turrets for protection. Taking out the turrets was simple, but there did not appear to be any way to open the gates, so Shepard turned the Mako back and took the side road in search of a way through.
The road led to a refinery with prefabs and another gate, which was protected by another turret and Geth infantry units.
Shredding the machines while dodging fire was easy for Shepard, though not too good for the stomachs of Kaidan and Garrus, who were nauseous due to the sudden and sharp moves.
They were grateful to have the chance to leave the armored personnel carrier, as the door controls were inside. Turning to his teammates, Shepard took out his laser rifle and one of the double pistols he had made during the journey to Therum. They looked like rectangles with a handle, a trigger, and a holo sight at the top.
He handed the rifle to Garrus and the pistol to Kaidan. They took the offered weapons with reverence in their eyes.
"Let's go."
They followed Shepard wordlessly, holding the weapons as if they might just disappear.
Only one Geth remained in the refinery, and it was in the control room. Three laser bolts put it down real quick.
—
More heavy Geth armatures were dropped by that dropship, and Shepard had enough. Waiting for its next pass after cleaning out the armatures, he nodded to Garrus, who opened the hatch and took aim at the dropship.
The red beam hit the dropship right at its engines, causing it to explode and sending it spinning down to the lava river.
Garrus let out a shout of joy, really pleased with the weapon, before closing the hatch.
"I have to say, Shepard," The Turian patted the rifle like it was a beloved pet. "You are a spirits-damned genius to have made a weapon like this."
"Just treat her well."
"Oh, I'll treat her like she is my wife."
Alenko turned to the Turian, about to say something, before realizing he would do the same, and turned forward.
The road ahead was clear except for the checkpoints the Geth had set up, but they did not pose a threat, and after a drive that was a bit too long for Shepard's tastes, he stopped the vehicle.
The road ahead was blocked by rocks, and it was too narrow for the Mako, though they could easily move on foot.
Geth units were waiting for them in cover behind rocks. Shepard aimed his pistol at one of the Geth troopers that peeked out of cover and left a hole in his head. Garrus was picking them off one by one with the rifle, and Alenko followed him, gunning down any approaching Geth.
There was another ambush point closer to the dig site Liara T'soni was reported to be in, and Geth greeted them with a rocket.
Shepard lashed out with his biotics, grabbing the rocket in the air as if he was throwing a lasso, and launched it back at the Geth, taking two of them out with one shot.
Garrus and Alenko watched with their mouths open, and only the helmets blocked the expression.
A shot whizzed by his head, breaking Garrus and Kaidan as the Turian took out the offending Geth sniper.
Another rocket was launched, harmlessly blowing up against their cover, giving Alenko the chance to shoot the Geth, his laser pistol making the range a non-issue, while Garrus put down the last trooper.
"Commander, any chance you can teach me that?" Catching a rocket in the air with biotics and launching it back at the enemy was just the cartoonish bullshit Shepard would do, and Kaidan Alenko very much wanted to learn that.
"Later, Alenko, we are in the middle of something here."
One last Geth was lying in wait for a chance to shoot the team in the back, but its aspirations died as Shepard shot the synthetic without even looking back.
They finally reached the digsite after trekking for a couple of minutes, and ahead there was just a single Geth unit that jumped around like a freaking cartoon character, and like that wasn't enough, a new dropship swooped by, dropping all of its complement of Geth units, including three armatures and two dozen Geth troopers and rocket units, severely outnumbering the team as they dived into cover.
"Garrus, take out the uglies. Alenko, you have the rocket launchers. I am going to give them something to shoot at." Shepard grinned before activating his anti-gravity generator and leaped up, dropping towards the armatures in an arc and drawing all the attention.
Biotics flared in his hand, a swirling halo of destruction, and he launched it right in the middle of the armatures.
The armature in the middle disappeared beneath the biotic attack before it expanded in a flash and threw the other two and the surrounding Geth units away, giving his teammates the chance to take their shots and clean out the enemy infantry.
Shepard didn't stay idle and switched the firing mode of his pistol. Instead of a continuous beam like the rifle, a microwave beam shot out, chaining between Geth units and frying them.
The microwave beam overloaded the Geth's power cores, causing them to violently explode.
A biotic charge launched Shepard near the slowly recovering armature, and his omni-blade flashed, cleaving its head in half, before he turned back and shot the other four-legged synthetic just as it was preparing to fire, blowing its head off completely.
Less than a minute later, the only thing remaining in the area was Shepard and his team.
—
Down the hatch to the tunnels dug for archeological exploration, more Geth waited for the team.
They settled into a rhythm where Shepard and Alenko would shoot the closest units, while Garrus picked off the ones farther away or the heavy weapon-carrying Geths, depending on the situation.
The elevator was functioning, and it saved them the trouble of having to walk down, but three Geth drones flew up and went down just as quickly.
The next elevator broke down after bringing the team down to the lowest point it could, and since the catwalks were down, they had no choice but to seek an alternate exit, provided Liara T'soni was here.
Jumping down the half-broken catwalk, Shepard heard Liara's voice calling for help.
"Uh… hello? Could somebody help me? Please?" Liara T'soni, daughter of Matriarch Benezia, pleaded as she was suspended in the air by some sort of energy field.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a closer look, before groaning.
"No, no, no, no." She fell silent, looking up in despair. " Goddess, of all the people in the galaxy, why did it have to be him who came to save me?! I would have been fine with anyone else." Liara T'soni lamented upon seeing her rescuers.
The day was getting worse by the minute.
First, the dig site she was working at was attacked by Geth of all things, and then she got stuck in a Prothean force field by accident, and now, she was being saved by Jonathan Shepard, one person in the galaxy she would rather not see again.
"You did say it was going to be awkward." Garrus chuckled at the discomfort the young Asari showed.
"Why is Commander Shepard saving you a problem, Miss T'soni?" Kaidan asked, ever the gentleman.
Liara looked at Shepard before sighing in resignation.
"I caught him in my bed, having sex with my mother. Is that a good enough reason?" Liara vividly remembered that moment whenever her mother or Commander Shepard was mentioned, which happened a lot since she was working with the humans.
The screams of passion and the depraved words her usually dignified mother used left Liara mentally scarred that day.
"You slept with an Asari Matriarch?" Kaidan was taken aback. Asari matriarchs did not just mate with anyone, and among the general populace of the galaxy, sleeping with one was seen as a sign of great success.
Shepard just rolled his eyes, refusing to say anything about his relationship with the Matriarch to not irritate the young Asari any further.
"Could you please get me out of here? I hit something by accident and got myself locked up here, and I can't reach the console." Liara, no matter how much she may dislike it, knew that the chances of anyone else coming to save her were nil and accepted the help with no small amount of distaste.
"Yeah, just give me a minute." Shepard looked around for any passage to the other side, but there was nothing except the mining laser.
He was just going to jump down to use the machine to clear a path before more Geth appeared ahead, firing on the team, though since they had high ground and superior weapons, the synthetics were easy pickings.
Activating the laser with a warning to his teammates to be ready, Shepard pressed the button.
The mining laser came to life, launching a single beam that tore through dirt and stone, creating a path to the other side of the force field and shaking up the whole cavern in the process.
The path opened by the laser led to an elevator that took them right behind Liara T'soni, and Shepard was able to figure out how to deactivate the force field holding the young Asari captive, in no small part thanks to the beacon he had interacted with back at Eden Prime.
"Any idea how we get out of this place?" Garrus was curious about the Commander's escapades with Matriarch Benezia, but it wasn't a good time since the cavern was still shaking.
"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it is an elevator. It should take us out of here."
—
The elevator was heading to the surface while Shepard called Joker, telling the pilot to make haste.
"I assume it is something important since you of all people are here, Commander?" Liara's voice was cold enough to freeze the planet, and Shepard just rolled his eyes.
"We can talk once back on my ship." Crumbling Prothean ruins weren't exactly the kind of place to tell someone their mother had gone crazy and become a terrorist.
The elevator made it to the top through the shaking, though some idiot Krogan followed by three Geths got in their way.
"Commander Shepard, they told me you would be coming. This will be fun." The overgrown lizard seemed to have no intention of carrying out his orders, looking forward to fighting the legend before him.
Shepard blinked at the stupidity before remembering his enemy was a Krogan who didn't care about dying.
"Duck." Shepard warned, throwing a grenade at the Krogan. The small explosive, barely the size of a baseball, floated in the air before laser beams strong enough to cut through a Thresher Maw emerged from the holes all across the grenade as it spun around.
The Krogan and the Geth following it were sliced into dozens of pieces, but the beams also carved deep, angry lines all across the room.
The team made it out with barely any time to spare.