The battle had begun once the Normandy entered the fray. Several Quarian ships had sustained heavy damage, smoke visibly pouring out of their hulls and billowing hypnotically through the zero gravity of space.
"Reegar! It's Shepard! I need a sitrep!"
No response.
"Joker. Let's show these bastards what we can do."
"Aye, aye commander."
Stealth systems disengaged the Normandy swooped into the fray. A geth ship foolish enough to break attack formation was the first to be targeted, it's hull no match for the destructive power of the Thanix cannon and the superheated stream of molten metal ejected from it's barrel. The dropship sheared effortlessly into two chunks of floating scrap.
"Commander, have I ever told you how much I love this gun?" said Joker.
"Then keep firing Joker!"
"Aye, aye commander. You hear that? It's playtime bitches!"
Waiting for an opening the Normandy lurked on the edge of the geth formation like a knife in the dark, expertly wielded by it's helmsman. Three Quarian ships had broke away from the main group and started a descent into orbit around Haestrom.
The Normandy's comm suddenly crackled to life. "Shepard. This is Reegar."
"I copy Reegar," responded Shepard, "Go ahead."
"My ship has broke formation away from the main group and is heading down to the planets surface. The rest of my ships will create a diversion to provide us cover."
"Reegar, what are you doing? Those geth ships will tear your men to pieces. You would sacrifice them so you can escape?"
"Commander. My cargo is too important. My men are expendable. And I would hardly call it an escape. We have no idea how many geth will be waiting on the surface."
"Reegar, what do the geth want? Why are they attacking?"
"I don't have an answer to that question Shepard. I assume it has something to do with why we are here. But I will tell you face to face. I've sent your pilot coordinates to the scientific enclave we have planetside. It's currently on the planet's dark side so we won't have to worry about the sun for a few hours. Meet us there when you can."
The line went dead.
"So what do we do commander?" asked Joker.
"We won't let these Quarians sacrifice themselves. Lock and load Joker. We'll take out every geth ship we see."
"Music to my ears commander."
Finally taking notice of the Normandy several geth attack fighters broke away from the attack group and shot toward the ship, quickly entering knife fight range.
"Crew to Gunnery stations!" shouted Shepard, prompting several crewman to rush toward the relevant controls.
The geth attackers swarmed around the Normandy like locusts, firing rapidly; their gunplay largely inefficient when faced with the state of the art multicore shielding. Spotting a group of geth in tight formation the Normandy's gunnery staff shot off a barrage of Javelin torpedoes. The projectiles converged onto the head of the geth ship attack arc, exploding with a tremendous force. The resulting blast sent out rippling shockwaves of dark energy that tore the ships to pieces, and damaging several more geth attackers who had been unlucky enough to get caught in the blast radius.
The rest of the geth ships were easily dispatched with the Normandy's GARDIAN lasers.
Seeing the trouble their comrades were in the main geth attack group ceased their assault on the Quarian vessels and headed toward the Normandy.
"Looks like we got their attention commander," said Joker. "I prefer a straight up fight anyway."
Shepard smiled. "Just be sure not to fracture your trigger finger."
"No problem commander, I've got spares."
The geth dropships opened with a salvo of turquoise laser fire as soon as they entered attack range. The Normandy responded with both barrels of the Thanix.
"Never bring a knife to a gunfight!" shouted Joker. "Oh shit…looks like we're the knife…"
EDI, quiet up to this point finally spoke. "Shepard, I'm detecting a flotilla of geth vessels coming out of light speed. Initial estimates indicate at least 1000 ships."
"1000 ships?" exclaimed Shepard incredulously. "Why so many?"
"I would surmise that it is an invasion force." EDI replied in regular non-plussed fashion.
"An invasion force? There is nothing in this system that would warrant an attack force that size."
"Shepard, I would advise a retreat. The Normandy will not survive an encounter with ship numbers of that magnitude."
"We can't retreat. Reegar is still on Haestrom. We need to warn him."
"That course of action is unwise Shepard."
"You know, if I were you I'd listen to her commander," said Joker. "If you don't she'll just keep nagging you until you do. Until I met her I'd always wondered what it would be like to have a wife. Now, well lets just say I'm in no rush to get shackled down."
"If you require shackling the Normandy's cargo hold is adequately fitted with restraints Jeff," replied EDI. "That was a joke."
Shepard rolled his eyes. "Can you two please discuss your bondage fetish another time!"
"Mr Moreau's extranet bookmarks make extended reference to several bondage…"
"Woah! That's enough EDI!" cried Joker, his cheeks turning scarlet.
"Another time you two!" Shepard shouted, "We've got more pressing matters at hand!"
The geth fleet drew closer, the Normandy buckling under the opening salvo of fire from the attackers.
"Shields at 80%" Informed EDI.
Joker patched through to the Engineering deck. "All hands, re-route non critical power to the forward cannons. I'm going in!"
"You sure about this Joker?" asked Shepard.
"Jeff, the odds of surviving a direct assault upon that number of ships is approximately three thousand seven hundred and twenty to one."
"Never tell me the odds!"
The Normandy engaged her aft exhaust, the antiproton thrusters kicking into gear and propelling the ship forward at a breakneck speed.
"Firing Thanix cannon!" shouted Joker, releasing a volley of hot death upon the lead geth frigate. The dropship exploded into a red ball of light, the flames resembling water in the zero gravity of space and hugging the Normandy like smoke as she passed through the expanding fireball.
"You don't have to do this to impress me." said EDI.
Targeting the next geth frigate Joker fired off the cannon once more, the gunnery crews simultaneously releasing a barrage of Javelin torpedoes at an onrushing formation of fighters. Both targets disintegrated upon impact.
The Normandy lurched once more as a salvo of geth rockets pummelled the ship's cyclonic barriers. "Shielding at 50%"
Suddenly the ships intercom snapped to life.
"Shepard, this is Tali."
"Talk to me Tali."
"That last attack disabled our CBT emitter, we've lost our cyclonic shielding. Reverting to traditional shield array."
Joker sighed. "Well at least we've still got our Silaris armour."
"EDI, engage electronic countermeasures," instructed Shepard.
"On it…targeting geth dropship."
Shepard peered out of the starboard viewport, watching in satisfaction as another geth frigate erupted; this time it's destruction a result of an overloaded drive core hacked by the Normandy's one of a kind AI.
"Shielding at 20% Shepard." Informed EDI. "It is inadvisable to continue our assault."
Once more the Normandy rocked as a further barrage of geth projectiles ploughed into the ship's hull.
"Shepard!" screamed Tali from the main Engineering deck, "We've lost shields! What is going on up there? Oh, shi'tet! We have a fire in the fusion reactor!"
"Shut it down EDI!" Shepard requested.
"Shutting down. Reverting to auxiliary power."
"Joker," shouted Shepard. "Break off the attack! Head for the surface of Haestrom."
"Aye aye commander, Reegar's coordinates punched in. Setting course for science enclave. Engineering, reroute power to aft thrusters."
The Normandy became an extension of Joker's physical body, his hands expertly working the ship controls as he veered smoothly away from the geth attack fleet. Within minutes they were entering the orbit of Haestrom, the ship entering the atmosphere within the planet's terminator zone. Most of the geth ships had broke off pursuit but several tenacious fighters and a couple of dropships had kept pace with the ship an entered close for an attack.
Several more volleys of blue-green laser fire struck the Normandy; various control stations around the CIC emitted angry white sparks, several holographic screens going dark. Crewman Matthews shouted a warning.
"Commander, sensors indicate we've lost primary power to exhaust port 3!"
"It's fine commander," responded Joker with typical bravado, "I can fly this baby on one."
The ship was now entering the planet's dark side. Veering away from further weapons fire the geth projectiles rocketed down toward the planet surface, their eerie glow illuminating the long forgotten crumbling architecture of the destroyed Quarian cities below.
"Shepard." The intercom sputtered once more. "It's Miranda. Get down here we've got problems on the crew deck."
"I'm on my way. Keep her steady Joker."
Shepard followed the emergency floor lighting to the ground hatch that allowed access to the crew deck; he was unwilling to risk the elevator during the increasingly dangerous firefight.
Entering the third floor of the ship he ran toward Miranda's office. The ship rocked as the geth continued their relentless assault. He barely had time to notice the dislodged bulkhead that came crashing down upon him, plunging his world into darkness.
"You cannot stop the inevitable Shepard."
The voice of Harbinger rang out in the blackness. "Your time is at an end. Your form is fragile. Why do you fight destiny? Your will is an illusion. You have no control, no purpose. We will give you power. Through us you will live forever."
A bright light appeared in the middle of the darkness. Shepard's dream form flew toward it. It was Sol. He recognised Earth glowing in the distance and consciously made an effort to move himself toward it.
Shepard hovered over the planet, enchanted by the blue brilliance of humanity's homeworld. Behind him a whiteness erupted, spreading outward. He turned, shielding himself from the fiery luminosity.
"We are coming Shepard…"
Sol erupted, it's core ceasing it's nuclear fusion. It exploded outward into a supernova of stellar energy, advancing toward Shepard at 30,000 kilometres an second. Within moments it was upon him. He closed his eyes, briefly taking in the earth once more, watching in horror as the world was set alight and engulfed by fire…
…Then nothing but blackness remained…