Nine: Broken
Usually, when Shepard was groundside, Joker was in the bridge watching vintage vids. It got awfully boring to be the pilot, but it was great for someone who wasn't a people person. At least he couldn't complain about getting bugged all the time, and he didn't have to worry about heavy choices.
Then her voice, sharp with urgency, filtered through the comm. "Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal!" She cried. "On the double, mister!"
Joker resisted the urge to laugh—the addendum sounded comedic coming from her—but he knew from the stress in her voice that she was dead serious. He did as she asked within seconds of the order. "Aye aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes." He informed her. The comm channel went silent and Joker veered the Normandy toward the signal that he was picking up on his screens.
Those eight minutes were painfully long, especially when Joker heard the sounds of shouting from the comm. "This whole place is falling apart!" Cried an unfamiliar voice, static crackling in the background.
"Move, move, move!" Shepard shouted, the words barely audible over the sounds of falling rock and tearing metal. Joker wasn't sure what was happening, but he knew it would look pretty bad on his reports if he let a mountain fall on his commanding officer.
He banked a left and landed the Normandy, unmuting his end of the comm so that he could tell Shepard that they had arrived. Instead, he heard only harsh silence.
"Shepard?" He said quietly. "You okay?" When all he got was more static, he began to worry… and that was stranger than anything else.
"We're here!" Shepard panted as the shore party boarded the Normandy. Joker pulled up from the planet, not a moment too soon. The ground shook under them as molten metal devoured the ruins.
"The Council's gonna hate me." Shepard muttered softly, pulling her helmet off.
"I guess that means you don't want me to patch you through when we reach the next comm buoy?" He asked.
"Wait on it." She replied. "I'm not eager to tell them I just destroyed a Prothean ruin with a mining laser."
"Awesome!" Joker cheered, but then quirked up an eyebrow at her unimpressed stare. "Too soon?"
"Probably." Shepard said. She rested her hand on the back of his headrest. "Thanks for getting us out of there."
"Just so you know, I'm entitled to a couple jokes about this."
Shepard gave a tired laugh. "We'll see. I might make some jokes at you, slowpoke."
"Slowpoke?" Joker repeated indignantly. "Who's the clumsy one who destroyed a Prothean ruin with a mining laser?"
"Hey, you try rescuing a scientist from a Prothean force field. It isn't a cakewalk."
Joker smirked. "Mmm, cake."
Shepard gave him a playful whack on the arm and walked away, shaking her head slowly.
"Just another day at the office, huh?" Joker called back to her retreating form, punching in the new coordinates.
