Chapter 9: All the Cronies in the Galaxy Can't Buy Me Loyalty
Kaidan made his way from the elevator onto the roof. He had an old friend in the Alliance who was an Infiltrator. That same friend had bragged when he received a tactical cloak from the Alliance for some of his missions. Kaidan would easily kill for one of those cloaks now, but he had seen nothing on the way up. Though the fact that there were a limited number of shuttles didn't allow him to go searching through crates. Kaidan hated the train of morbid thought, but he and Shepard had killed a decent number of soldiers. Surely that would mean that there was a spare shuttle or two. All he needed was one. But for now, he would make do with sneaking behind groups of crates. Fortunately, most were distracted by the evacuation protocols. Kaidan managed to sneak up towards the landing platform when he saw several shuttles take off at once.
"Those were all the shuttles!" One man shouted.
"They left us behind!" A woman screamed in dismay.
"We would've made it in time if you hadn't tripped!" Another man shouted, and Kaidan knew that being caught would give those people an outlet for their anger. It also meant that the Normandy was their only way of getting out of the system. After several agonizing minutes, Kaidan finally got both of them to the communications array without detection. Less than a minute later, Kaidan had wired a comm that would announce their presence but hopefully get the Normandy's attention.
"Alenko to Normandy. Joker, you'd better not be taking a coffee break, because we need an extraction now." Shepard heard Kaidan's voice through a haze. Her ears were ringing, and she could feel a migraine press against her skull. She let out a groan in response. "Can you open your eyes?" She could tell that his mouth was almost pressed against her ear, trying to whisper. It was a struggle, but she finally did so.
"Hey, how the hell could comms get off this rock? Only the boss could do that!" Shepard couldn't identify the voice, but from what it said, she guessed that she didn't want to meet the owner.
"Someone must have hacked the tower!" Another shouted, and Shepard felt adrenaline enter her system as Kaidan tensed beside her. "Send out the mechs! That'll take care of any intruders!" Shepard felt the ground shake beneath her as a mech began to pound across the outside of the asteroid. But before she could grab her weapon, Kaidan popped out of cover, overloading its shields before firing on its armor. As she watched, he seemed totally in control of the situation, something she wasn't sure the Alenko that served on the SR-1 could have done. But a second set of thuds warned her of company. She peeked out of cover to see a second mech advancing. So Shepard did the only thing she could think of: she copied several of Kaidan's tactics on the second mech. The only unfortunate thing was that her biotic attacks weren't as effective as normal, leaving the mech stronger than she wanted. But just as she popped out of cover again, a familiar shuttle landed on the roof. Jacob, Miranda, and Grunt all leapt out of the shuttle and began slaughtering anything left on the roof.
"Glad you left us something to shoot, Shepard. Grunt was itching for a fight." Shepard had never been so glad to hear Taylor on her comm.
"We're the extraction team. The Normandy's ready to jump out as soon as we're on board," Miranda stated as she offered a hand up and a shoulder to rest on. A quick glance showed that Taylor was helping Kaidan to the shuttle as well while Grunt guarded their entry. But before they turned, Shepard saw an image of Harbinger appear on the interface, and she motioned for Miranda to stop.
"Shepard. You have become an annoyance." Miranda's posture stiffened, and Shepard reached for her gun again. "You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds."
"Excuse me, but last time I looked, you were the one who was losing. Your 'Vanguard of Destruction' and your minion slave race have both been eliminated. Our destruction is not inevitable; yours is." Kaidan was suddenly in front of her, staring down the now oversized projection as if it were another merc. Shepard had never been more surprised or humbled. Part of her guessed that he was also bluffing, but part of her wanted to believe that victory really was within reach. It had to be, or else everything she had done would be for nothing.
"This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to be harvested." If it were possible, Harbinger seemed to be sneering at them.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like we're doing now." Jacob had stepped beside Kaidan, and Shepard felt her heart swell with pride.
"However 'insignificant' we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. It's what humanity does," Lawson affirmed, and Shepard could almost feel Harbinger's rage. It couldn't stand the fact that it no longer scared them. The people beside her were what mattered in the fight against the Reapers. She wasn't alone. And as long as that was true, she could beat them.
"Know this as you die in vain: your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival." After his final statement, Harbinger faded into nothingness and the group turned back to the shuttle.
"Took you long enough. Or do you just enjoy letting your CO sweat?" Shepard threw a grin at the others as they hobbled away.
"Neither. It's a long explanation, so it's best saved for once you're back on the ship," Jacob articulated as they all sat down in the shuttle.
"Did you see me take down that mech by myself Shepard?" Grunt seemed particularly pleased with himself, and Shepard had to grin.
"I softened it for you," she replied, and Grunt seemed to wiggle in frustration.
"That's why it was easy. I told you to leave the mechs for me to have fun with."
"Have fun with?" Kaidan asked hesitantly.
"You humans don't understand fun. It isn't fun until someone almost loses consciousness." Kaidan shot her a look across the shuttle as Grunt grinned.
"This is the young Krogan you helped gain cultural awareness?" Doubt dripped from his words, and Shepard straightened in defense.
"That was Okeer's doing. And the violence is just part of Krogan culture. It's the tradition and purpose behind the violence that matters," Shepard stated, waving her hand as if to brush off trivial details.
"But the killing is good too," Grunt piped up, and Shepard smiled lopsidedly at her young Krogan while Kaidan sighed in exasperation.
"Well, in typical fashion, you've managed to make quite the amount of work for Dr. Chakwas," Miranda announced as she finished running her omni-tool over Shepard. "And I doubt that you're any better for this excursion." Kaidan maintained polite silence with the former Cerberus operative. "So what kept the two of you in the same building as a Reaper artifact for two days?"
"Dr. Kenson threw most of her troops at us and sedated us for almost two days." That seemed to shut Miranda up; though, given her glance at Jacob, they seemed to have guessed a hostage-type situation.
"Who's flying the shuttle, anyways?" Shepard finally asked, curious that nobody had stepped into the front half of the shuttle.
"Our assistance was requested, given our shortened reaction time and superior navigation capabilities. Your EDI is also assisting and has informed your Dr. Chakwas about the medical procedures you require to repair your subroutines," Legion informed them all from the pilot's seat. Kaidan was silent at this statement, but gave Shepard a meaningful look, to which Shepard could only respond with a sheepish shrug.
"You just enjoy collecting an eclectic crew, don't you?" He finally asked.
"Confusing and annoying the higher ups has its perks too. But that's only a secondary motivation. The primary motivation is the interesting jokes that crop up." The shuttle experienced a series of jerks as it entered the artificial gravity of the Normandy's hanger and Joker pulled the ship through the relay before its explosion. But most of those jerks went unnoticed by its crew as they helped Shepard and Alenko into the medbay.