(Normandy - Cockpit)
"We're approaching the Mass Relay, ETA 30 minutes."
John Shepard raised a brow, looking down at the pilot with the beginnings of a smirk starting to show. "30 minutes? You getting rusty there, Joker?"
"Hey, you try making this girl dance with only 3 hours of sleep under your belt." Joker responded indignantly, shifting to give John a dirty look. "While your at it, try not to flail your arms about like an idiot, you may break them if you try hard enough."
"Sheesh… Someone's snappy. I suppose you didn't get your valentines love letter from the girl you wanted?" John laughed at the finger he was given, moving closer to the co-pilots seat.
"Yeah, as if." Joker scoffed, focussing his attention on the flight controls once more. "Anyway, there's only one girl for me."
"Really? I always thought the Normandy was a guy."
"What?" It seemed Joker couldn't take that little comment, almost whirling around to look at John with a scandalised stare. "First off: No one ever calls their… anything a guy! Secondly, don't try and make this weird. I'm not into that kind of lovin'."
John snickered. "I wonder what Jane would say, knowing that you are having sexual relations with her ship."
"She'd probably break my legs… Then break yours to make it equal between you and me." The pilot sighed. "Why don't we just keep this conversation sh'dum, yeah? I want to have my limited walking ability for the near future if I can help it."
"Good idea..." John turned, walking away from Joker before stopping and turning back. "My shift starts in 10 minutes, who knows, maybe Tali will take pity on you and give you company up here..."
"Oh really?" Joker smirked. "She ain't mine. Though, she is the only person I can stand talking to."
"Ouch, Joker… Cold." John shook his head, fighting off the grin building up yet again. "I'll be seeing ya'."
"Seeya, Major..." He replied, swivelling around to get back to his baby. "I wonder if he got my little jab at his love life there."
(-0-)
(Normandy – Engineering)
John sighed, stepping out of the horrifically slow elevator and giving a nod to Wrex before turning into the door that led to engineering. The soft hiss of the door opening and subsequently closing behind him seemed to cease any conversation in on the deck as he rounded the corner and saw his two favourite people… Besides his uglier friend and partner, Garrus.
"John!" Tali waved at him and though she tried to hide it, John noticed how quick she was to greet him and how uncoordinated it was to her usual greeting. It was like she had little time to do anything.
Besides her was his sister. His little sister of whom he couldn't be prouder of if he tried. Captain Jane Shepard gave him a smile and a nod. Her fiery red hair that barely dropped past her ears, mostly tucked behind her ears along with bright green eyes that stood out like the citadel on her pale face.
"Tali. How you holding up?"
Tali almost jumped with excitement, like his question gave her new life to her oddly mechanical and loose frame before. He didn't notice his sisters roll of the eyes when Tali began to speak.
"I'm fine, though I really should get back to-"
"Oh no you don't." He chuckled, bringing his Omni-tool up and sending the shift times to her yet again. "It's my shift, Tali. Go and have some time to yourself. God knows you could use it."
He wasn't lying. Where they both shared the skill in engineering, he was more of a mechanist. He spent more of his time helping Garrus fix the Mako after Jane roughed it up than he did doing systems checks, maintenance and repairs to the engine. Tali was a prodigy in engineering, far better than he could ever be. It was the same with Garrus being a better mechanic than he was. Those things weren't exactly areas where he was the master of his craft. Then again, Garrus was only a little bit better than he was.
"But, I need to finish purging the access plasma from the vents! Everyone will fry if I don-" He knew when Tali was going into her babbling mode. She was adorable, but put way too much responsibility on herself. He guessed it came from being Quarian, their need for contributions and supplies from their people likely had ingrained this in her since birth.
"Tali, I'm more than capable of fixing that and other issues that come up. Not as quick as you can – no – but good enough." He gently grabbed her shoulders. She looked up, her bioluminescent eyes boring into his own. It was then he noticed the tensing and how her hands wrung themselves right after.
He also noticed his sister looking at them from the door way. A smirk on her features, like she knew something he didn't. And if there was something she knew that he didn't, then he wanted to find out.
'I'll deal with you later.' He thought, watching her give him a small wave before exiting the engineering deck. Now he had to deal with a nervous and extremely cute Quarian.
"But, if that plasma vents into the deck then you'll be vaporised! I don't-!" She froze, stopping herself from speaking any further. Though he couldn't tell if it was because she thought that she'd offended him or because she wanted to stop herself from saying something else.
"I don't think it will come to that." He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and pointed over her to Engineer Adams. "If anything bad were to happen, Engineer Adams would be able to stop any of that from happening before we're hurt."
She was silent for a little bit after that, John was almost worried that he had said something that had hurt her feelings. But she didn't move away from him, though when he noticed he still had a hand on her shoulder he quickly coughed and removed it.
"Okay..." She looked away from him before walking to the cargo bay. But she stopped herself before she left, turning back to look at him. "John?"
"Hmm?" He looked back to her, he had barely enough time to open the panel back up before she had spoken…
"Umm… I- I… Could I talk to you when you're free again?" She was barely visible in the darkness of the ship, but he could make out her eyes moving slightly, she was looking everywhere but at him.
'Have I done something?' He wondered, trying to make sense of her odd behaviour. 'I hope not, I've already annoyed Liara enough.'
His joke about Sovereign being a giant space squid seemed to irk her when he had talked to the Asari last. Hopefully she would stop avoiding him, she was starting to annoy him with her silliness.
"Uh, sure. If you want, I mean." He chuckled a little, nerves suddenly filling him before he finished his sentence. Great, now he was feeling weird. Was Tali contagious or something?
"Thank you, John." She quickly hopped back towards the door and almost bolted out of it like she was on fire. Leaving a very confused John Shepard to his shift.
He looked over at Adams and just shrugged, turning to look at the half-finished diagnostic Tali had started. He didn't want the plasma wafting over his luscious skin.
"Women..."
(-0-)
(Jane Shepard – Normandy – Crew Deck)
"I swear, Kaiden, he is just so blind to it all." Jane propped her head onto her elbows as she let out a sigh. Feeling an almost familiar feeling of irritation mixed with humour flow through her veins. "If this keeps up, i'm gonna drag him into my quarters and beat him over the head until he gets it!"
Her partner just chuckled, his gravelly guffaws floating through her ears, making her smile a little. She knew that he understood, Kaiden was good at listening to her. He understood that she was human to and had frustrations.
The harsh light piercing the shadowy confines of the Normandy put great emphasis on his features. He wasn't the best looking person, rather plain overall but in a good way. He was an unassuming face that had just as much expression, sometimes making it difficult to understand how he was feeling. But she had grown accustomed to the small details and signals,the subtle crease of his brow when he was think hard. The way he looked down and away from anyone when he was angry or worried. She knew them all.
Luckily, right now he was grinning. Likely at her small plight.
'Smug bastard.' She thought fondly.
"Don't get stressed about it. You told me that he was never good at this kind of thing." He patted her shoulder, the gesture making her feel warm inside as she smiled lightly at him.
"I know, but you haven't seen the effort that the poor girl puts in just to get him to notice. Today, she was outright fussing over him taking her shift." She shook her head after a few seconds of silence. "She may as well have a neon sign above her head saying 'I love you, John Shepard', but he just seems to miss it."
"Really?" Kaidens face had morphed from casually amused to slightly impressed, taking a making breath before releasing, seeming to just take a moment to process the idea. "I knew he was bad with social cues, but to be that blind? Wow, I mean… how?"
"I don't know… He has always been a little aloof, Kaiden. Akuze certainly didn't help him in that regard." Her hand had begun to clench hard, fisting the air and shaking. "Cerberus bastards."
"Hey." Her partner rubbed her back and almost immediately, her bubbling anger began to fizzle out. He had that magic touch on her. "Don't worry about him, from what I can tell, joing C-Sec helped him. I read his file: started with our Garrus Vakarian and they both took down a few major rings. Though they aren't too popular."
"Your point being, Kaid?"
"My point being that he went from a near traumatised soldier to an impressively capable officer. His blatant disregard for his superiors opinions of him show how his mentality has gone from 0 to 10 and his competency and willingness to join us on a military operation to track down another soldier tells me that he is ready to take those responsibilities again."
He made a good point. Her brother had been close to being placed in a hospital after Akuze, he could barely talk without a stutter and he would break down almost once a day. Then, one day, he just left the alliance and joined the C-Sec force on the Citadel a few months later. It was around that time that the crime statistics in the wards dropped by a considerable margin.
Her big brother had managed to drag himself out of his own personal hell and went back to making the world a better place. And whilst she didn't agree with how he did things on the citadel, she couldn't argue with the results he garnered throughout his 2 year career.
"You're right. I guess I just still worry about him. Something like that doesn't just leave you, y'know?"
"I know."
She looked away, hearing the sudden hiss of the elevator door opening. She stood up, briefly wondering if her brother had come back up, but when she noticed the suited Quarian come through the hallway, bouncing with positivity, she gave up and sat back down.
But she had to know…
"Hey, Tali."
The engineer in question stopped and whipped around. Her body barely stopping as she came over, and sat by her. The light above giving the Quarian the same contrast as her boyfriend.
"Shepard, I did it!"
Janes eyebrows rose at that, excitement filling her body. Almost as if she switched to autopilot, she gently grabbed Tali's shoulders and looked into her eyes, like she was searching for the answer.
"Really?" At her nod, the female Shepard "Yes! Well done!"
"What's she done?" Kaiden looked at the two of them, smirking a little at the excitement they were showing. "Has she confessed?"
Jane looked back, wanting an answer…
Tali rubbed her hands together. "N-Not quite, but I asked to talk to him after he was done..."
"It's a start." Kaiden laughed. "Though it seems a little bit small to get so bubbly over."
"Says you, Mr. Falling-Over-When-Asked." Jane retorted, giving him a smug look as his own face reddened.
"That was because it was out of nowhere..." He muttered, looking away in embarrassment.
Jane ignored him, listening to Tali tattle on. The poor girl was so scared of messing the whole thing up. Personally, Jane wondered why, John wouldn't say no because he liked her to.
When she mentioned the rest of the fuss she had after she left Jane couldn't help but laugh a little. This girl… She was as grown up as she was and yet she was a little child when it came to what she wanted.
"Tali, my brother joined the alliance two years before me. He learned as many martial arts as he could. Hell, I can't even keep up with him in spars. He knows his way around engines and has enough experience to get a vehicle working. I think he'll be able to keep himself safe from venting plasma well enough..."
"He said the same thing..." She heard the Quarian mumble.
"Listen, just tell him how you feel, I can almost guarantee that he'll say yes." She gave her companion a pat on the shoulder before lifting herself off the seat. "Okay, we'll be over Alchera in a few minutes now, so be ready just in case ewe find trouble..."
"You really think we'll find something this time?" Kaiden looked at her, curious.
"The alliance wouldn't send us on a wild goose chase. WE have to make sure that there is no trace of them left."
"Agreed." The confident tone Tali took made Jane smirk slightly.
"Okay, have fun, you two..." She waved over her shoulder before turning and entering her private quarters.
(-0-)
(Alchera – Joker – Normandy – CIC)
-25 minutes later-
"Disengaging FTL drives." Joker swiped the controls, his hand skilfully gliding along the various coloured buttons and panels. "Emission sinks active… Board is green, we're running silent." He grinned.
'God, I love the Normandy!'
Pressly sighed to himself. "We're wasting our time. Four days running up and down this sector and we haven't found any sign of Geth activity..."
Joker looked over at the old, grouchy navigator with a shrug. "Three ships went missing in this sector the past week, something must've happened to them."
The evidence was there, the SSV Istanbul went missing, followed by the SSV Southend and SSV Bristol. Each ship losing its communications within minutes of entering the system, it was odd, especially since the SSV Southend was a Cruiser… Something was going on here, but what? Joker didn't know.
"My money's on slavers. The Terminus system is crawling with'em." Pressly sneered, disgust etched onto his face. "The Terminus is a horrible place."
"Well, Navigator, your grasp of the obvious is inspiring as per usual." The pilot snicker, feeling the glare the older man sent his way.
Before Pressly could say anything however, the ensign caught both their attention.
"We're picking something up on the long rang scanner..." She reported, her voice wavering slightly. "Unidentified vessel, looks like a cruiser."
'Well...' Joker frowned. 'Could explain the alliance ships.'
His eyes caught the odd ship. It looked nothing like he had ever seen before, the armour was barely existent, but the hull was thick. How the ship hadn't fallen apart was amazing.
"It doesn't match any known signatures… Not even Raloi."
A cold feeling came upon Joker. Something was wrong… Something was very wrong.
The ensign's voice rang through once more, but her voice was confused. "Cruisers changing course… Now on intercept trajectory..."
Pressly called back, his own voice beginning to waver. "Can't be, the stealth systems are engaged, there's no way a Geth ship coul-"
"It's not the Geth..." Joker responded, dread filling him as the enormous ship began to turn towards it. "Everybody brace for evasive manoeuvrers!"
He felt panick enter his system as the ship began beeping, the ship was firing at them. The weapon almost cutting them in half before he managed to pull out of the line of fire in time. Joker watched in surprise as a yellow beam of what seemed to be plasma or another form of energy whizzed past the Normandy, seemingly no on end to the attack…
Suddenly, the weapon caught the Normandy's rear thruster, rocking the ship and causing an explosion that felt way too close for the pilot for comfort.
"Shit!" He yelped, hearing the pained scream of Pressly behind him. Soon enough, he heard the Ensign call the Navigators name out before another fiery burst silenced her forever more.
"Kinetic barriers down!" Joker called out, hoping to god the crew hadn't bolted from their stations. Fear etching its way onto his face as he tried his hardest to kep his ship away from the menace behind them. "Multiple hull breaches, Weapons offline and somebody put that fire out!"
The alarms were blaring and the rocking was getting worse and worse as the seconds ticked on by. But he couldn't leave, this ship was savable! He could do it, he just needed some more time.
"C'mon, girl, stay together!"
(-0-)
(Alchera – John Shepard – Normandy – Engineering)
"Shit!" He heard Adams yell. He couldn't blame him…
"The hell going on!?" He growled, grabbing onto the railing for dear life as the ship rocked harshly to the left.
"I don't know, but the Normandy's falling apart!" The chief engineer barked, fear coursing though him. "We need to keep the engine from failing! Otherwise the damn ship with either explode or grind to a halt!"
John looked at him in horror. The engine was buckling and almost falling apart, somehow, the attackers hadn't hit anything important, but the engine was beginning to strain as the dull pulsing became more loud, beginning to crackle.
"How can we stop it?" He called back, trying to keep a firm grip on the railing. He growled, feeling the fear course through him. He wanted the fuckers dead.
"Vent the emissions and purge any damaged power coils and coolant cells!" At Adams response John began quickly punching in various codes and shifting power to different, more important systems.
"The engines cooling down a little, but still climbing fast!" He growled, frustration beginning to mix with the fear as another explosion knocked the ship of kilter again. "Nevermind, that just set it off again!"
He looked over at Adam's who had his Omni-tool up, pain flashing on his features as he deactivated the tool and began making his way over to him.
"I've been told to abandon ship, we- oh god, get down!"
"Wha-"
He looked back at the engine and recoiled in shock. "Fuck!"
The engine had been struck and the plasma hadn't been vented quick enough, the drive core began to fluxgate and rattle before small explosions began to break it down. All could do was watch as the final explosion blew all of the plasma towards him. He could barely close his eyes in time before the burning began…
He felt his skin bubble, burn, char and his nerves light up like fireworks as the pain flashed and rocked his body. He barely registered the screaming, blood-curdling, pained, and terrified before he realised it was him. Nothing relieved it and the burning only grew worse before he felt his consciousness leave him, almost missing Adams frantically grabbing him and dragging him away…
(-0-)
(Alchera – Jane Shepard – Normandy – Crew deck)
"Damn it."
Of course the fire extinguisher was non functional, the only thing she could say that gave her a little comfort was that the immediate area around her was relatively damage free. The only thing stopping the fire escalating to her end was the rigidly cold excess from the broken extinguisher.
Quickly, Jane vaulted over the inflamed table, trying to ignore the bodies of her crew as she made her way to the end of the sleeper pods. Between the heavy smoke and the obnoxiously harsh red lights it was difficult to make out how close she was, but her only chance of survival was down at the end of that hallway so she had no choice.
"Please be there, please be there, please be there…." She winced at the urgency in her own voice. The words were meant to spur her on, but they only made her panic rise faster. She felt the impact of the enemies weapon smash through the deck below and she could only pray to god that her brother had made it out.
As she stumbled over the decaying hull of her ship, a sudden explosion from the ship blasted behind her, she barely had any time to react before she was flung through the air, arching over most of what remained of the sleeper pods and barely managed to shield her head from a collision with the wall just an arms reach in front of her.
She felt the energy leave her, her vision was blurry, her head felt light and dazed. But she looked up and almost cried with joy as she saw the emergency gear – somehow – still intact and functional. She grabbed the helmet and sealed it around her hardsuit, immediately feeling better as the hiss rendered her safe from the outside.
"Okay, beacon, distress beacon!" She clambered over to the left and began fumbling with the controls, hoping that the ship wouldn't detonate before she could send anything out. "C'mon, c'mon, send already!"
Suddenly, the window popped up, telling her that the distress beacon had been sent. Her heart leapt through her chest, almost giving her the confidence she needed. The alliance would be here soon enough.
"Shepard!" Kaiden called from behind her.
Jane whipped her head around to face her partner, surprise shone through her features. Thankfully the helmet stopped it from showing, but she felt happy seeing him, knowing he was alive. She would take anything she could get.
"Fuck… Will the alliance get here in time?" He sputtered, his eyes darting around in his helmet frantically.
She had to re-assure him somehow. Even if – for the first time in her career – didn't feel as confident as she sounded.
"The alliance won't abandon us," She responded, but before she could finish another horrific explosion knocked the man into her. Quickly she caught him and helped him get his balance back. "We just need to hold on a little while longer!"
She ran past him, tossing him the fire extinguisher in the process. "Get everyone left into the escape pods-"
"Joker refuses to leave, he won't abandon ship." Kaiden growled, expelling one of the fires. "I'm not leaving either."
Jane shook her head quickly. "I need you to help get everyone out of here. I'll haul Joker's crippled ass outta here!"
"Shepard!" She heard him call back. This time she couldn't help but let her anger out.
Turning to face him, she thrust a finger towards the escape pods. "Get the hell outta here!"
She could see the conflict on his face, but he relented eventually.
"Aye, aye..." He rushed away after a few seconds of hesitation, disappearing though a haze of fire, smoke and ember.
'Okay, now, Jokers turn.'
She was caught off guard by a sleeper-pod being launched into her side, almost knocking her over. Immediately, her left side flared up in pain, making her moan as the heavy pod brushed past her and onto the floor with a heavy thud. She could barely see and the pain in her shoulder wasn't helping. But she dashed through the deck and up the stairs before forcing the door open… Only to be met by the beautifully terrifying sight of Alchera.
And something else…
This was the first time she had seen this ship… and it looked like something out of those old Sci-Fi horror vids. The jagged and cylindrical ship span slowly, pointing the hole directly towards what was left of the Normandy. Jane felt her breathing quicken and become heavier. The ship itself instilled a fear she hadn't felt since Elysium, it was then she realised that she had to get away from the damn thing before she met the fate as some of her crew.
She saw Joker, shielded by the somehow still working barrier. The pilot shuffling through the controls like he had no time left… Which he didn't, whether by her or by the attackers.
"Joker! C'mon, we have to go!" She yelled, passing through the shield. She saw him shake his head as he swiped at the controls again.
"No, I won't abandon the Normandy!" He stubbornly focussed on the controls in front of him, panicking. "I can still save her!"
Jane felt for him, she really did, but now wasn't the time to be sentimental. If he stayed he'd die, if she stayed she'd die.
"The Normandy's dead, just like us if we don't get outta her right now!"
"No, we just have t- Oh no..." He looked over at the monitor, eyes widening as he watched the unknown vessel begin to glow bright yellow at the centre. "They're comin' around for another attack..."
Suddenly, the ship fired upon them once more, but this time the thick yellow laser struck just a few metres away from the cockpit, cutting through the hull like it were made of butter. Jane watched in horror as the rest of the Normandy began to drift away from them.
'No time left… ' Jane hurriedly ran back to the pilot, roughly grabbing him by the arm and yanking him out of his seat, uncaring as he gasped in pain.
"Ah! Watch the arm!" He hissed, but letting himself be dragged away to the only escape pod left.
Jane almost shoved him through the hatch before slamming the harness down on him, luckily, he didn't break anything, but he hissed in pain as his fractured arm banged against the wall of the pod. He was trying not to complain but it was taking its toll on him.
"There you go..." The captain grunted before beginning to make her way into the pod…
The next few seconds went by without his knowledge it seemed, because one moment, the Captain was halfway through the pod and the next she was floating by the emergency launch controls.
"Captain!" He yelled, trying to reach out to her, but he knew it was futile. She was too far away.
He saw the unmasked fear lacing her eyes, the terror she felt, the pain she was in, it was all on display. But before he could do anything else she slammed her fist down on the button.
"Shepard!"
The door closed, cutting him off. Jane smiled, watching the pod fly away from the danger…
Her smile slowly began to drop as an explosion rammed her against the wall hard, making her scream in pain as she felt something in her body snap. Moments later she realised that she couldn't feel her legs. She was drifting, almost blinded by pain, panic and remorse…
That was the last time that she would see Kaiden, Tali or Liara, in a smouldering wreck that was slowly getting smaller as she drifted further and further away… She ddn't know if her brother was okay, if he had made it. She hoped he had, it was bad enough that Kaiden was going to find out about her losing her life. But Tali would fall apart without her brother there.
Her breathing was cut short suddenly, making her eyes bug out. Momentarily, she though she had stopped on her own volition, before trying to breathe again and coming to the realisation that she couldn't. That was when she heard the hiss of her hardsuit and noticed the breach of her hardsuit popping up on the internal systems…
"No..." She felt the whisper leave her lips, uselessly flailing her arms to cover up the multiple breaches. This was really it, her luck had run out, there was no saving herself this time, only the cold embrace of death…
The pain started to set in and she groaned, her lungs were desperate for air, her body writhed and her consciousness began to fizzle before the burning sensation set in. Not of the her lungs, but from the entering of the atmosphere…
'Goodbye brother… take care of yourself...' She thought to herself, hoping that he somehow heard her pleas as she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her away from the mortal realm…
(-0-)
Take that, Shepard. See you in two years time, you paragon biotch.
I apologise if my techno-babble is weak. Sci-Fi isn't my forte.