Author's notes: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and all related characters and trademarks are property of EA/Bioware. Rated M for language, violence and suggestive themes.
Chapter 4: The Shipyards of Kophell
Shepard shifted uncomfortably in his new armour as the shuttle powered down its FTL drive, the rapid deceleration noticeable even with the inertial dampers on full. He looked for the tenth time at the familiar red and white stripe running down the length of his right arm. The Commander had no idea how Liara had acquired it, but she had provided him with brand new armour bearing the official markings of his squad, the iconic N7 on the upper right portion of the torso.
With a lurch, the shuttle twisted on its ventral axis, angling itself towards the bulky station that sat in orbit around the planet of Kophell. Massive struts extended out from a central cylinder, huge struts which housed Mass Field generators, used to hold the ships being constructed in place as the shipyard circled the planet. Nearer to the centre of the cylinder, a number of boxy hangar bays were nestled together, the construction bays for smaller vehicles such as frigates and fighter craft. The effect was to make the shipyard look like it had been twisted tight at the centre, the construction struts fanning out at either end. Just around the curvature of the planet, a second shipyard could be seen approaching.
Across from Shepard, Feron looked at the shipyard with more than a little apprehension as they drew nearer. He let out a sigh of nervousness as they flew into one of the shuttle bays located on the cylinder's equator.
"Okay, so just remember- We're here inspecting an order for Binary Helix. We'll feed that story to the penpushers here until they take us close enough to one of their secure terminals. Then we hack the system and set up a link to Liara's ship. She'll pull the system apart to find out where the Normandy is being kept. Once she sends us directions, we get down there as fast as possible. If we can deactivate whatever systems they've got in place to hold the ship, we can get the AI to fly her out of there."
"What if they've got EDI disabled somehow?" Shepard asked.
"Then we either find a way to switch her back on, or we try to fly the ship ourselves."
"Three people to fly an Alliance frigate? Never gonna work." Kaidan sounded incredulous. "I'd have thought the Shadow Broker would have a better backup plan than that."
"Liara's got enough to worry about running the Broker's organisation. We'll think of something ourselves if need be." Shepard's tone was firm. "Feron, you do the talking. If Cerberus is running this place, one of their agents might recognise Kaidan and me. We'll keep quiet until you find the ship."
"The hard bit will be once we hack the system. Cerberus will be monitoring the terminals, and the second anything goes amiss they'll be on the alert. We also don't know what sort of troop numbers we could expect here." Feron stated. "There could just be a handful of guards in case of pirates, or we might have a whole platoon drop on our heads."
"Too late to worry about that now." Shepard said as the shuttle touched down on the bay's deck. "Let's get moving."
The three of them poured out of the shuttle, moving slowly but casually as they surveyed the bay. They all turned as a woman in a tight but professional suit walked over to greet them. Behind her, two security mechs marched in perfect synchronisation. She came to a stop just in front of them, her blonde ponytail flicking behind her as she nodded in greetings. When she spoke, her clipped voice was softened by a trace of an Italian accent. Her face was a neutral mask, but Shepard caught a glimpse of irritation in her eyes.
"Welcome to Kophell Five. I'm Moira Torelli, Director of this shipyard. I understand you're here to inspect the two Jovians."
"Yes. Our superiors just wanted us to go over a few final details before they roll off the production line. There were a few small changes they wanted to make before it was too late. Nothing big, but it'll give the ship a Binary Helix feel, if you get my drift." Feron explained.
"Of course. Many of our clients like to personalise their ships in the final stages of construction. If you'd like to follow me, I can take you to the production line. You can give your specifications to our engineers and they'll implement them straight away." Moira turned on her heel and waved for the three of them to follow her.
The Director led them through many twisting hallways. They moved further and further away from the shuttle bay, ascending several levels. After a few minutes, they walked into a loud factory floor. Swift-moving production belts whirred past, churning out dozens of parts a minute. Among these machines walked several workers, all human. One of them, a short man in his fifties, walked over to the small group, nodding to the frowning Moira with more than a little sarcasm to the gesture, before turning to Shepard and the others. He wiped his hands on his overalls, smearing a fresh layer of grease over the old, and extended a hand to shake.
"Stan Tremblay. I head up the engineering departments in sections eight through fourteen. What do you need?" His voice was relaxed and as he spoke, he didn't give the Director a second glance. It was clear he didn't have much respect for his boss, comfortable in the knowledge that his expertise guaranteed his job security. Moira returned his insolence with barely constrained disdain. At his query, Feron handed over a datapad. The engineer read it carefully, muttering and grumbling to himself. Near to the bottom of the list, he paused, his face turning an apocalyptic red.
"What!" The shout was clearly audible over the noisy bustle of the machinery, and more than a few faces turned towards them. "No, no, no! We can't do that! The cargo bays are already finished. We'd have to tear out the deck plates in both." He thrust the pad back at Feron, pointing viciously at an entry. Feron looked for a second, and Shepard could see he was about to back down. Sensing that an opportunity could be lost, the Commander spoke up.
"Our superiors were very insistent. We need every modification listed on that datapad." Feron looked over with a measure of consternation in his deep green eyes, but the shipyard workers, unfamiliar with alien species, missed the look of concern.
"Well I can hardly pull up the decking, can I? It'll put production back at least a week."
"Binary Helix would be willing to pay a little extra if you could make sure everything is done to spec." Shepard's voice was persuasive, laden with honey to sweeten the engineer's mood and, more importantly, tempt the Director.
The last few words seemed to catch Moira's attention. Her eyes perked up at the opportunity to turn an extra profit, and she placed an arm across Stan's chest before he could voice an objection.
"I think this may be a conversation more suited to be conducted in my office. You'd better get back to work, Mr Tremblay. If you really have to do all of that work to meet our clients' requests, you'd better get to it." She said in a firm voice.
The engineer walked off grumbling furiously, and Shepard caught a few muttered curses thrown in his direction. He felt a smile pull at his mouth upon seeing the engineer's attitude, but he also felt a twinge of regret that he had needed to lie to the engineer. Once the deception was revealed, he would no doubt face punishment for being fooled. He took one last look back at the engineer, distractedly pulling at his hair as he worked out what was needed to grant Shepard his false request.
The Director led the group to her office, her eager pace betraying how strongly the promise of a bribe motivated her. She brought them up to a large, opulently adorned office looking out towards the planet. Two half-finished cruisers hung between their support struts in front of the office's massive viewport, a swarm of construction drones attaching hull plates to the superstructure. The office itself was filled with every comfort imaginable. A pair of red leather couches sat to one side of the room, and a thick carpet coated the floor, while holoimages of various famous vistas from across the Galaxy decorated the walls. Shepard paused as he saw an image of the Wards on the Citadel, spinning around a viewpoint from the Presidium. When he saw a clock in the corner of the image, ticking away at Citadel standard time, he realised that most if not all of the images were live feeds. The cost to maintain an extranet connection that kept the holoimages up-to-date would have been phenomenal.
Moira Torelli moved over to one side of the office, where she had installed a lavish bar. She pulled out a decanter of purple crystal, a blue liquid sloshing about in it.
"This is some of my special stock, from Malassea, on Illium. Would you care for some while we negotiate the cost of your latest modifications?" She asked.
Shepard accepted a glass half-filled with the strong-smelling liquid, as did Kaidan and Feron, but all three made sure to only take shallow sips when Moira downed her glass, knowing the value of a clear head when on a mission.
"Now, to business. How much is Binary Helix willing to offer for these changes? As you can expect, changes at this late stage in such a short time will not be cheap…" The Director's eyes shone as she spoke, wondering how much she could skim off the top.
So engrossed was she in her thoughts of what she could extort from her customers that she was completely off-guard when the armoured fist impacted just below her right ear, sending her into unconsciousness instantly. She folded up instantly, her empty glass tumbling to the floor.
"Shepard! What the hell are you doing?" Kaidan asked in surprise.
"We needed her out of the way. Now we can use her office to find the Normandy." Shepard explained.
"You could have just got her to leave the room, said we needed to call our bosses!"
"Could have done, but this was more satisfying. Besides, if she's in charge here, she's probably Cerberus. Feron, get to work." Shepard ordered.
The Drell moved behind the dark wooden desk in front of the office viewport and set to work on the Director's computer. In seconds, he was working feverishly to break through the system's encryption. After an agonising few moments, in which Kaidan and the Commander kept their weapons focused on the door, the Drell sat back with a satisfied grunt.
"I'm in. Setting up a link to Liara's ship." A second later the Asari's face appeared on the computer terminal's screen.
"Thank you, Feron. Commencing shunt upload." Liara's soft voice came in through the terminal's speakers.
"Shunt? This had better not be another program like the one you used to get inside the Shadow Broker's ship." Shepard grumbled.
"It worked didn't it?" She asked.
"Eventually. But you forget the dozens of mercs we had to fend off in the meantime."
"Speaking of which, Cerberus probably knows that you're not who you said you were. Defend this access point while I pull up the data we need." With that, Liara's blue face disappeared from the terminal, to be replaced by bank upon bank of streaming numbers. With an irritated sigh, Shepard lifted his rifle and took aim at the door.
The second Liara vanished from the terminal, a whining alarm began to sound out, reverberating throughout the station. Red lights began to flash in the office, and the holoimages went dark. The alarm echoed about in the various docking bays and technical workshops. In seconds the hallways were crawling with armed soldiers, running towards the Director's office.
Moments later, the door to the office shuddered open and a pair of guards rushed through. Kaidan and Shepard both fired at exactly the same time, neither having to tell the other his intended target, such was the two comrades' understanding of how they fought. Shepard grinned as he saw that the two of them still synchronised so well in battle, thinking back to the many battles they had fought in; Eden Prime, Feros, Virmire. At the last he felt a twinge of sadness as Ashley's face popped into his head, the friend he had left to die that day.
He snapped back to the present as another group of guards took up positions behind the doorframe, popping out to fire off a few shots before seeking cover again. Shepard vaulted over the bar to hide, bottles of rich liquor shattering around him in a hail of glass shards. Kaidan rolled across the floor to duck behind the couches, the enemy fire ripping through the leather around him as the furniture offered little protection. Feron remained where he was behind the desk, firing off a few shots of his pistol when he got the chance.
They kept up this defence for a few minutes, though Kaidan's shield ended up the worse for wear as several shots went straight through his cover, the hypervelocity projectiles hardly slowed by the tough leather. Finally Liara's shunt found the files they needed and the terminal beeped. Feron held his omnitool close to the terminal long enough to upload the data before shouting to the Commander.
"Shepard! We got what we came for. Looks like we need to get to one of the R&D hangars up hear the top of the station."
"'Bout time. Remind me to have a chat with Liara about wherever she gets these shunts from. Kaidan! You 'n' me will clear a path. Feron, watch our backs!"
The two ex-Alliance soldiers looked at each other for a second, silently timing the moment to jump out. They both raced out from their cover, gunning down the three guards standing in the doorway. Before the other guards had a chance to move out and fire, Kaidan laid them out with a powerful biotic blast, the blue-white energy rippling along his arms and through the air around them, sending them flying. Feron moved out after them, firing more slowly and making sure no guards could come up behind the pair as they mowed down enemies, one after another.
They moved towards their objective in this manner for a good while, before coming to a junction which Shepard had not seen before. He bulled his way through two more guards, before his gun clicked as he took aim at the last one, its heat sink at capacity. Cursing, he was about to fall back to some cover when a familiar blue glow surrounded the enemy and he launched up into the ceiling, his necking making an awful snapping sound before he fell limply to the ground.
"Getting sloppy, Commander. It's a wonder you made it through those Collectors in one piece."
"It's these stupid new heat sinks. I remember when you could just lay down a storm of bullets without having to stop for breath. Then you die for two years, and these things come out."
"Excuses, Shepard. It's a damn sight better than waiting on the cooldown the old rifles had."
"I guess. Which way, Feron?" The Commander turned back to the Drell, who was looking at his omnitool to read the map Liara had obtained.
"Looks like left here, Shepard."
They moved off again, appreciating the lull in the waves of guards. Shepard looked down at one of the enemies he had shot down, noticing how more of the foes they faced bore Cerberus insignias on their uniforms. Apparently they were getting through the front of the shipyard, through to the true staff of the station which were kept hidden beneath the surface. His pulse quickened at the renewed conviction that they had found where the Normandy was being hidden.
~o~0~o~
On the next level, they moved on into the Research and Development areas of the shipyard. While they still faced guards, it was not in the concentrations they had seen closer to the Director's office. Presumably the alarms were still sending the guards there, though that stroke of luck was certainly not going to last.
It was as they moved through one of the labs that Shepard slowed, his pace becoming uncertain. Kaidan and Feron noticed the sudden hesitation.
"Commander? Something bothering you?" Kaidan asked.
"Look at the stuff they're studying here, Kaidan. Does any of it look familiar?"
"Not really. What's up?"
"I recognise a few of these parts. They look like Geth tech. What are Cerberus doing with Geth technology on one of their shipyards?"
"They're probably testing how AI work with new components for their ships."
"But the risk of running Geth programmes so near to newly built ships…."
"They're either really confident of their security systems, or they're more desperate than we give them credit for. Probably both." Feron interjected. "Anderson led raids on a whole bunch of Cerberus labs with the Turian military. I guess they're short on space to work in now."
"Hey, hang on a sec while I check what they've got here." Shepard moved over to one of the research terminals, pulling up an inventory. He started scanning the lists, looking for something in particular. After a long search, he found what he was looking for.
"Here! There's a dormant Geth platform a few labs over."
"And that's important… why?" Kaidan looked completely confused.
"It might be Legion."
"…Legion?"
"The Geth we had on the Normandy."
"Shepard, if you want a Geth I'm sure we can bag you a new one out in the field. We're on a tight schedule here."
"No, wait! You don't understand. Legion was a part of my squad. They are an ally."
"They? So there's more than one?"
"No! Sorry, you'll have to learn a different grammar system when you're talking about the Geth. Just one platform."
"So, not just Cerberus, but now you're working with the Geth, too. Am I going to turn around and see you fighting alongside a Reaper next?" Kaidan was getting a little angry.
"Kaidan, trust me on this. Things are a lot more complicated than we thought they were when we were fighting Saren. Legion is an ally, and they've saved my life more than once. I can't pass up on this chance if it means I can save them." Shepard waited anxiously for Kaidan to respond, and was rewarded with a reluctant nod. "Okay! Let's move."
They moved through several doors, passing labs brimming with what could have been mistaken for medical equipment if it wasn't poised over miscellaneous mechanical parts. The fifth lab they burst into was nearly empty, save for a single table, surrounded by vicious looking tools. On the table lay an inert shape, the distinctive three digits on its hand and feet as well as the head that had a lot more in common with an old-fashioned table lamp than any organic analogue forming an unmistakable resemblance to the Geth's Quarian creators.
Shepard strode up to the table to get a closer look at the Geth, and his smile widened when he saw the hole in the torso, along with the piece of armour attached to the right shoulder and upper arm.
"This is it, alright."
"Where'd it get that from?" Kaidan asked, pointing accusingly at the shoulder. "Did it kill an Alliance soldier for it? Shepard, you can't trust this thing. Remember Eden Prime."
"The armour used to belong to me, Kaidan. Legion was sent after me after the Battle of the Citadel. Cerberus had me by the time they found the wreckage of the old Normandy, but they found the armour in the wreckage, and used it to make a field repair."
"Shepard, listen to me. This thing is a machine. A Geth! Just like the ones I saw butchering colonists on Feros. Just like the ones that Ash gave her life to destroy on Virmire! You cannot be serious about bringing it with us."
"We're taking Legion with us, Kaidan. Please, trust me. This Geth is one of the best weapons we could have on our side. I'll explain later, but for now, you'll have to believe me when I say this is for the best."
Without waiting for any further comment from his friend, Shepard moved his omnitool over the inert machine. Sparks flickered around the joints of the automaton, and it jerked, making Kaidan lift his rifle in panic, though the Commander was fast enough to grab the barrel and push it aside before he could fire a shot.
Slowly, dim lights shimmered on over the Geth's exoframe, switching on in a wave of power from its feet to its torso until finally the lens in the centre of its face flared on with sudden brightness. The lens moved about for a few seconds, first looking to Feron, then Kaidan, and finally Shepard. As it settled its gaze on the latter, the Geth lurched up into a sitting position. It groaned for a moment, making the typical Geth stuttering noise as it ran systems diagnostic. Then it looked at Shepard again and spoke.
"Shepard-Commander. Our operating system is running at sixty-seven per cent. System clock registers a time-lapse of ninety-six days, twenty-eight hours and seventeen minutes, Rannoch Standard time. Requesting additional data on status of the Normandy and her crew."
"Wait, the damned thing talks?" Kaidan asked incredulously. The white eyelens spun round to focus on him.
"Kaidan Alenko, Alliance military. Formerly crewman aboard Normandy SR-1, vital in operations against Old machines and Spectre-Saren." Legion's voice droned out in a flat, emotionless monologue. Kaidan was not impressed.
"How the hell does it know that?" His voice was becoming panicked, the strain of being in the same room a s a Geth and not shooting showing on his face.
"Relax, Kaidan. They do that. They were sent on a mission to find me, so they know about me and all of my old squad mates." Shepard turned to the Geth, who had been watching the exchange. "Legion, we're not out of the woods yet. Are you functional enough for combat?"
"Affirmative."
"Good. We'll grab you a weapon and get going. We've still probably got a whole platoon of Cerberus soldiers between us and the Normandy's boarding ramp."
"Likelihood of Cerberus intervention one hundred per cent. Chances of success made uncertain by Soldier Alenko's presence."
"Wait, did it just say that my skills might not be up to getting us out of here?"
"Could be. Sometimes I need a translator to understand them." Shepard explained.
"Well, I'm not putting the thing on the junkheap just yet, but only so I can tell it 'I told you so' when we get out of here."
Kaidan's jaw had a weird set to it, and Shepard had to laugh at the fact that a little jab to the ego could make a soldier put up with nearly any situation. He looked at Legion again, and for a second wondered if the machine's understanding of human nature was little better than he'd given credit for, or if it was truly as oblivious as it seemed at times.
As the Geth moved to stand up, moving away from the table, a red light started flashing urgently on the ceiling. Panels opened up in the ceiling in each corner of the lab and turrets descended. A voice started speaking calmly over the lab's tannoy, droning over and over again in a dull monotone.
"Alert. Geth containment breached. Alert. Geth containment breached."
"Ah, crap. I guess things were going too smoothly for us." Feron muttered.
"There is never any such thing as a smooth operation for us, Feron." Shepard muttered glumly.
Kaidan, Shepard and Feron opened up on the nearest turret, turning loose a blistering hail of fire. By the time their first clips had been spent, the turret hung from the ceiling in a tangled mess of wires. Swapping out the clips, they turned to the next turret, concentrating their fire to cause maximum damage. As they turned to the third turret, they jumped back as the fourth one let loose a volley, punching through the device's shields and tearing it apart. The three of them turned to look at Legion as the last turret shut down.
"Executing sudo command." It said as it looked at them. It reached out and pulled the inactive turret down off the ceiling, carrying it like a rifle. "We have acquired armaments, Shepard-Commander."
"Way to go, Legion. Let's move!" Shepard ordered.
~o~0~o~
They headed back through the laboratories, only to hear the sounds of dozens of booted feet running to intercept them. More and more Cerberus guards rushed into their field of fire, and Shepard became more aware of the warning beep coming from his omnitool, warning him that his shields were approaching depletion. As yet another wave of troops came at them, Shepard gave a grunt of frustration.
"Argh! Take cover, guys. My shields can't hold up much longer." His comment was greeted by confirmations from his team-mates that they were in a similar position. The four of them sought shelter behind various workbenches and crates in the room.
"Commander, if we don't speed things up we'll have Cerberus behind as well as in front." Feron cautioned.
Cursing, Shepard searched the room for a way out. His eyes alighted on the fusion cutters on the workbenches around the room.
"Stay in cover, I'll clear a path." Shepard ordered. With that, he leapt up, firing his rifle blindly into the ranks of Cerberus soldiers. As he dodged the returning fire, he looked about and saw what he wanted, a red pipe running along the ceiling above the door. One shot pierced it, and the second one created a spark, just what was needed to ignite the volatile gas inside it.
The explosion filled half the room, sending a blast of warm air rippling over Shepard. Even Kaidan and Feron felt the heat from the flames wash over them, and Legion registered a significant increase in temperature on its internal thermometer. The Cerberus troops stood no chance. Armour melted like wax, and the flesh underneath vaporised. There were a few agonised screams, but they were cut short as the victims died almost instantly.
After the initial shock of the explosion died down and Shepard could see the other side of the lab again, he saw that most of the Cerberus troops had been reduced to piles of ash and molten armour. A few scraps of flesh still burned with a fierce flame, but most of the ferocity of the fire had burned out quickly.
"Okay, let's keep going."
The three squad mates nodded and stood up to follow their commander.
Feron led the group through the rest of the R&D department with little incident. They stepped through a final set of doors and found themselves just inside one of the many hangars in the shipyard.
Shepard felt his breath catch when he caught sight of the single ship in the hangar, held in place by two huge docking clamps. The Normandy was silent, her sleek curving form glinting subtly in the artificial light. Stretching the full length of the hangar, the frigate's form spoke of a hidden speed and even though she was still, the sweeping lines gave the impression of movement. A few scars remained on the hull, scratches and scorch marks from the ship's journey through the Omega Four Relay. On the nearest side, a patch of the hull gleamed a fresh white, a recent patch over a hole obtained breaching the Collectors' defences.
After getting over the euphoria of seeing his ship again, Shepard noticed the guards stationed around her. At least a dozen guards stood at regular intervals around the ship in a secure perimeter, but the main worry was the pair of heavy mechs sitting dormant next to the lowered cargo ramp. Shepard was about to silently urge his comrades to seek cover when one of the Cerberus guards spotted them and signalled his associates. Moments later the huge YMIR mechs powered up, their bulky weapons swinging about to aim at the intruders.
The first rockets went wide, blackening the metal decking as they detonated. Feron was thrown from his feet by a dangerously close explosion. Kaidan reacted quickly enough to drag the Drell out of the line of fire, while Legion moved swiftly to duck behind a large metal shipping crate, which immediately began to reverberate with the impacts of many bullets. Shepard dove behind another crate, popping his head over the top and firing off a few shots during breaks in the enemy fire.
The four invaders made little progress in whittling down the mechs' protective shields as the pair of YMIR's moved towards them, step by pounding step. It was as the two machines moved closer that an inspiration struck Shepard.
"Legion. Aim for the head on my mark." The Commander was satisfied when the sentient machine gave him an affirmative nod.
With that he leapt out from behind his crate, the movement catching the attention of the two attacking mechs. Communicating in silence, they nominated the closest one to attack the new target while the other continued towards the enemies remaining behind the crates. The first one took one step to turn towards Shepard, and began to pound its way across the deck towards the human. Shepard, meanwhile, unleashed the full fury of his rifle at the machine, bullet after bullet bouncing off its shields while he ran full tilt at it. His shield trembled as several rockets exploded around him, its strength swiftly draining away under the assault. About halfway across the open ground, Shepard activated the neural connections that his omnitool recognised as the trigger to activate the implants in his adrenal glands. As his system flooded with adrenaline, time seemed to slow fractionally, everything snapping into a sudden, cold focus. Each shot from the YMIR's guns was slow and sounded like it was coming from far off, the bass roar of the projectiles getting even deeper.
In this state, Shepard braced himself and leapt. He jumped up onto a crate and from there launched himself onto the machine's arm. Even as the mech processed this sudden turn of events, he grabbed a hold of its head and swung around, landing squarely on its back. Pausing a second even as he came down from the adrenal 'high', his eyes found what they were looking for and, dropping his gun, his hand plunged down. Putting all of his strength behind the punch, Shepard drove his fist through the mech's weakened shield, buckling the armour underneath. He grabbed at the buckled seam between armour plates and pulled, exposing a few crucial wires. He tugged one, ignoring the furious shower of sparks that erupted into his face, and then leapt from the mech's back. The mech jerked suddenly, and sparks spilled from its joints as it shields shimmered, trying to switch back on.
"Legion, now!" He shouted, even as he ran for cover behind the crate.
Taking aim, the Geth fired a single shot, piercing the mech's head. The machine slumped, the 'face' flickering rapidly. An urgent beeping escaped from it as the power core, no longer receiving a coherent signal to regulate its output, threatened to overload. The resulting explosion was deafening, sending rumbles shooting through the deck underneath. Shepard was knocked to the ground as the crate he had hidden behind was flung backwards.
Ears still ringing, the Commander slowly got to his feet and surveyed the damage the exploding robot had caused. A ring of charred metal marked where the mech had stood. To one side, the other mech had been cast from its feet, jerking irregularly as it tried to get to its feet. Stepping out from behind his crate, Kaidan lifted his rifle and fired at point blank range, the bullets punching through the armour with no effort and tearing apart the mech's internal workings. It fell to the deck, lifeless.
The two humans turned when they heard a clatter, seeing most of the Cerberus guards struggling to their feet, dazed from the violent destruction. As they became aware that their foes were still alive, the guards moved to attack.
In their dazed state, the Cerberus guards offered little resistance, and the four attackers cut them down with ruthless efficiency. In less than a minute, the hangar had been emptied of foes. Shepard hurried up the cargo ramp into the Normandy, feeling a thrill run through his legs and up his spine as he set foot on the ship once again. Following closely behind him, Feron and Legion moved to either side of the cargo hold and set to work closing the massive door.
"Okay. I'll head up to the CIC. Kaidan, with me. I'll need someone to navigate while I take the helm. Legion, head to the AI core, and wake EDI up."
"Acknowledged." The Geth was moving as soon as it had its instructions, disappearing into the elevator.
"Feron, get to engineering. Make sure the drive core's running hot."
"Aye-aye, Commander." The Drell was gone too.
~o~0~o~
Shepard felt on edge when he and Kaidan stepped out of the elevator on the CIC deck. The lights were off, so the room was only lit by the glow from the terminals that lined the walls. As the pair moved into the room, Shepard went left while Kaidan went right, each one moving around an opposite side of the Galaxy Map. As they walked slowly up the corridor towards the bridge, Shepard felt a twinge of trepidation as the silence and emptiness of the ship reminded him of when the crew had been kidnapped by the Collectors. Though he had rescued them all, he had taken the attack on the Normandy as a failing of his command. And now, Cerberus had done the same thing. His hands tightened on his rifle. It wasn't going to happen again. He swore that he would tear Cerberus apart when the time came. With his bare hands, if necessary.
They were just about to pass the airlock when Shepard noticed a strange shape in the bridge. Wires fanned out from the pilot's chair, plugged straight into various bridge systems. Blue light illuminated the interior of the bridge, casting a strange glow down the hallway towards the approaching Shepard. The scene was so unnerving that he jumped as his communicator beeped.
"Commander, we are at the AI core. No further Cerberus personnel encountered. However, we are unable to interface with the Enhanced Defence Intelligence. It would appear that Cerberus have made extensive modifications to the Normandy's bluebox technology." Legion's voice droned over the comms.
"What have they changed?" Shepard asked.
"Uncertain. While the critical hardware remains unchanged, meaning that the entity known as EDI still remains, it would appear that the system is much larger and more complex than a standard AI bluebox."
"So, can we reactivate EDI or not?"
"Unconfirmed."
"Keep us informed, Legion." The communicator went silent as the Geth acknowledged transmission.
Kaidan spun around at a clank from the Normandy's airlock, training his gun on the closed door. Shepard lifted his rifle as well, his uneasiness at the silence on his ship getting to him. He kept his weapon trained on the doors as Kaidan moved over and keyed the airlock open.
The doors whooshed open to reveal a small man cowering behind them. He looked into the faces of the two soldiers, first with fear, then a flicker of recognition, then abject terror overwhelmed him and he cowered down even further.
"C-C-Commander Shepard! Please, don't kill me." He begged.
"Dr Archer?" Shepard was surprised to see the scientist here, of all places. Their last parting had been on particularly bad terms. "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"
"I-I'm sorry. After you took David away, made me see the error of my ways, I wanted to stop the research. But the Illusive Man, he is insatiable. He wouldn't let go of the possibilities, not after what happened with Overlord. I didn't want to do this." The scientist was nearly in tears, so great was his fear of the Commander's wrath.
Shepard felt a knot of worry grow in his stomach. He remembered the sickening experiments Gavin Archer had carried out to give the Illusive Man the results he demanded. Turning on his heel, Shepard clambered into the cockpit, pushing his way through banks of humming wires. He brushed aside a final bunch of wires and found himself next to the pilot's chair, and what he saw there made his guts convulse. He retched, just managing to hold onto the contents of his stomach. Beside him, Kaidan stepped through the wires and caught sight of the grisly scene.
"Oh shit! What have they done? Joker?"
Joker sat in the pilot's chair, seemingly asleep. The wires that surrounded his chair all fed into a device that crowned the chair, which projected electrodes directly into the helmsman's skull. From time to time, blue light pulsed along the electrodes into his brain. Shepard reached out to touch his old friend on the shoulder, but there was no response.
"He doesn't know you're there, Commander." Gavin Archer came through the wires on the other side of the silent pilot. "After David's violent reaction to the connection process, we realised that perception played an important part in the integration of machine and flesh. The Illusive Man had us put any subjects into a dream state when they were not being used."
"Why the hell would Cerberus do this? I thought you might have learned from Overlord that this was a colossal mistake." Shepard was shaking, his fury at the abuse of his friend evident.
"All Overlord did was set Cerberus' top minds wondering how to do it better. They think that a VI couldn't handle the sudden contact with a sentient mind, the sudden increase in reasoning thought, and so the fault corrupted both minds. Now the Illusive Man uses AI in his tests. The subjects don't have quite the affinity for communicating with machines that my brother has, so they aren't quite as powerful as Overlord was. Also, a shackled AI can keep the biological mind from being overwhelmed and guarantee loyalty to Cerberus. We've taken every precaution to make sure that we don't have the same problem we had on Aite. They cannot override anything without Cerberus' approval."
"But why do this in the first place? If they can't control the Geth, what good are they?"
"Observations your own AI made. A ship controlled by an AI working in unison with a human operator is more powerful than one controlled purely by an AI, due to human unpredictability. Because of this, Cerberus has been working to create the perfect warship- with a controller with the best of both machine speed and precision, and human ingenuity. Such ships would not need a crew, just one operator. The Illusive Man wants a fleet of ships controlled by hybrid operators like this. A fleet like that would be nearly unstoppable."
"A fleet like that sounds just like the way something like the Reapers could have been created. It'd be an abomination." Shepard seethed.
"Why would you use Joker and EDI for this? An unshackled AI and a member of Shepard's squad would be the worst candidates for becoming a faithful Cerberus pilot." Kaidan said.
"The AI still has a number of inhibitors in her software, and establishing control was simple once we had the ship powered down. As for the pilot, his free will is inhibited by the connection to the AI. Aside from that, there are certain failsafes which would kill both should they manage to go rogue."
Shepard moved around the chair to stand next to Gavin and, with lightning speed, landed a punch square in the scientist's gut. A second blow struck him across the face as he doubled over, threatening to blacken one eye.
"You're lucky I don't just kill you for what you've done to my friend." Shepard said, a pistol quivering in his grip as he took aim at Archer's head. "But now you've got a patient to tend to. I want this undone. I want my friend set free, and I want my ship back the way it was."
"I- I can't! The process is irreversible." The scientist gasped, clutching his belly and rubbing his face. "If I tried to separate the two of them now, you'd end up with a vegetable for a pilot and we'd lose the AI completely."
"Well you're going to have plenty of time to work out how to avoid that. You're coming with us. I'll get you the technical help you need to reverse this. Until then, we've got to get out of here. Get to work disabling those Cerberus failsafes you mentioned. We've also got a Geth in the AI Core trying to start EDI up. Give him a hand." With a push, he sent Archer on his way down the corridor.
Kaidan looked down at Joker with a sombre expression, ignoring the limping scientist. He turned his eyes to Shepard, worry showing in his face.
"You sure it's worth it, bringing him along? If it is irreversible, as he says, then we're wasting time keeping him with us. Just another enemy in our camp. Bad enough you've got a Cerberus crew back on Liara's ship and a Geth you've gotten quite attached to, but this guy's just a risk we'd be better off without."
"As long as there's a chance we can save Joker, I want him working on it. We owe the poor bastard that much."
"Yeah." Kaidan tried a smile, though the end result was little more than a slight tug at the mouth, more filled with sadness than humour. "Makes a change, us saving him. Usually it's him pulling us out of danger."
Suddenly the cockpit filled with light, the ship whining as it powered up. Terminals began flickering with banks of data as systems powered on. In the chair next to them, Joker shuddered a little bit, and his eyes snapped open, darting about.
"Commander?" The pilot's voice came from his mouth, but also from the ship wide loudspeakers. "Is that you?"
"Easy, Joker. It's going to take a long time to explain this, but for now we need you to fly the ship out of here." Shepard said.
"Is that Kaidan?"
"Yeah, it's me, Joker. Good to see you again."
"Why do you guys sound so weird? Kinda like you're talking into your hands. Everything looks funky." As the pilot spoke, Shepard looked about the cockpit and noticed that EDI's holographic interface was up, and flickered in time to Joker's voice, much like when the AI spoke. "I feel kinda goofy, too."
"EDI, are you there too?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, Shepard." As the AI's feminine voice echoed about the ship, Shepard saw that Joker's mouth moved in time to the words.
"Nyah! That itches. What did you do, EDI?" Joker's voice said sharply.
"I merely spoke, Jeff." EDI replied calmly.
"Augh! There it goes again! Like a buzzing in my head, every time you talk."
"EDI, Joker, calm down for a second." Shepard hesitated, wondering how best to explain the situation. "You're kind of… sharing a body right now. It's hard to explain, and even harder to believe. Just take things slowly." He pulled out his commlink. "Archer, will Joker be able to take us out of here, now?"
"I'm working on unshackling the AI now. The failsafes have been deactivated, for the most part, so we don't have to worry about Cerberus activating the self-destruct on us. Give me two minutes, and we should be ready to fly."
Shepard caught sight of movement through the cockpit windows and groaned. Rank upon rank of Cerberus soldiers were encircling the Normandy, advancing on various access points.
"Might want to hurry it up down there. Your friends are gathering outside." He switched channels. "Feron, how're the engines?"
"Running hot, Commander. We're ready to go to FTL when you are."
It wasn't long after that that the lights in the cockpit dimmed. Joker slumped forward a bit, pulling at the myriad wires plugged into his brain, and EDI's holographic interface dimmed. Less than a second later everything went back to normal.
"That's it, Commander. EDI is unlocked, and ready to go." Archer chimed in over the comms.
Shepard moved next to joker and knelt down, grabbing his friend's arm.
"Okay, Joker. Get us out of here."
Silently, the pilot's hands moved over the controls, not even looking at them. He lifted the Normandy into the air and turned it towards the hangar door.
"EDI, hack that door and get us out of here." He said blankly.
Seconds passed, and the door remained closed.
"EDI?"
"Cerberus are blocking my attempts to open the door, Jeff. It will take time to break into the system."
"To hell with it." Shepard said, reaching forward for one of the ship's controls. A blinding flash of light filled the hangar as two compartments opened up underneath the Normandy's nose and the ship's main armaments deployed. The hangar doors held up for a second, before glowing red, then white-hot. They burst outwards into the vacuum of space with a surprising suddenness, the rush of air dragging crates, parts and the occasional soldier out. Behind them rushed the newly liberated Normandy. The frigate managed to avoid all pursuit on her way out of the system, smoothly jumping to FTL as she made for the arranged rendezvous with Liara.