Wow, it's been so long since I've updated, and I must apologize, but in all fairness I warned of this eventuality. Hope you enjoy this and thanks for staying faithful.

Chapter10:

Table Turning

Finally released from medical care, Joker sat brooding in his pilot's chair. The recent personal drama had drowned out the main goal: stop the Reapers from escaping dark space. But the pilot was so excited at the prospect of walking, that saving the galaxy temporarily took a back seat. Not to mention the fact that recent flirting with Ashley had actually turned into something worthwhile. Joker sighed and looked over at the curled up Gunnery Chief, who had taken a liking to sleeping in the copilot's chair. Joker did not mind her presence, especially when she talked in her sleep about him.

The relative peace was going to be broken soon, and everybody onboard the Normandy knew it. They were currently on a mission investigating some geth activity on the border of the Perseus Veil. Just because Saren was defeated, did not mean that the geth had lost their knew found faith in salvation through the Reapers. What was most disturbing was that reports indicated that the geth had gotten an upgrade from seemingly nowhere. Even Tali was puzzled as to how the geth could get technology that was not their own.

"Who would supply the geth with weaponry?" mused Shepard from behind the pilot.

"I've got no clue sir. But whoever they are, must hate everything or are completely insane," answered Joker.

"Agreed," Shepard said as he went to sit in the copilot chair until he noticed Ashley sound asleep. "What is she doing here?"

"I'm no expert on women, but I believe she's sleeping."

"I meant why is she sleeping here idiot," Shepard said, sitting on the arm of the chair instead, crossing his arms.

"Hey, don't blame me. She'll do what she wants, and I can't say that I mind. You didn't seem to mind when Alenko would fall asleep at the console, and I don't see how this is any different," Joker said with a shrug.

"Last time I checked, you weren't romantically involved with Alenko. That is, unless there's something you need to tell me."

"Well you're just hilarious now aren't you?"

Shepard smirked and looked over his shoulder at the sleeping Gunnery Chief. "As long as she can still fight on the battlefield," the commander noted.

"It didn't seem to affect her when she was pining for your attention."

"Touché," Shepard noted and began walking away. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Not a clue," Joker whispered.

"You sure don't" said Ashley, causing the pilot to jump.

"Like I said, I'm no expert on women," Joker repeated.

"Yeah, I heard that part too," the Chief said as she stretched and rubbed her eyes. "And you may not be an expert, but you seem to be doing very well for yourself in that department."

"I think I just got lucky that someone finds my sarcasm mildly attractive," Joker said with a smirk.

"Or maybe you're just kind of scruffy cute," Ashley teased.

"Or maybe it's because I already saw you nak-"

"Shut up!" Ashley hissed, covering the pilot's mouth. "Only you, Shepard, and I know what happened, and you better not say another word. Understood?"

Joker nodded, still smirking underneath Ash's hand.

"Good," Ashley said, removing her hand slowly. "Now then, how long do we have?"

"Ten minutes."

"Then I need to get ready," Ashley sighed.

"You don't even know if you'll be picked," Joker reasoned. "For all you know, you could be staying here with me," he winked.

The comm. unit crackled to life, "Joker, page Wrex, and wake Ashley up off of her fat ass."

Ashley hit the respond button, "Will do skipper." Shepard groaned over the radio before clicking it off. "My ass isn't fat."

"I like it."

Ashley rolled her eyes, "I'll let that one slide pervert. I got to go, and no looking at my ass while I'm going," she warned before giving Joker a light kiss on the cheek.

"Such a blatant breach of protocol," Joker mocked.

"Fine then, no kisses for you smart mouth," Ashley laughed as she walked off.

"Damn it."

The drop to the surface was a bit shaky, as Joker hadn't dropped the Mako in awhile. "And he calls himself the best pilot?" queried Wrex. "Remind me to never believe him again."

"He'll get it," Matt assured the krogan. "Are we online Joker?"

The pilot flipped some switches and brought the HUD views of the three ground team members onscreen. "I've got eyes and ears Commander, and tell Wrex to stuff it or I'll drop him without the Mako."

"Joker says sorry," Shepard said to Wrex before slamming his foot on the pedal of the Mako. "What are we even looking for? There wasn't a planet layout in the mission file."

"Let's take a gander shall we?" Joker said as he pulled up the scans. "Initial scans show a large cluster of buildings with some weird energy signals east of your position. They don't match the geth signature, but they're close enough that they could have changed due to the weapon upgrade."

"Then that's our next destination. If it is the geth, then save what you got as their new energy signature."

"Understood," Joker said, before relaxing back into his chair. Just like old times. Except now, there are no bread crumbs to follow. It was not long until Shepard reached the destination and brought the Mako to a roaring halt. The three climbed out of the vehicle and took stock of their surroundings.

"Everybody stay alert, we don't know what these new geth weapons can do," Shepard warned, and led the team forward. The first building was completely empty: no corpses, no geth, and no sign of battle.

"This doesn't seem right," Wrex said. "It doesn't seem like the usual geth attack."

"We could be walking into a trap Shepard," Ash agreed, as they walked towards the center of the small cluster of buildings.

"Aren't we always?" asked Shepard, before cracking his neck in anticipation. "Then I guess we better be ready."

No sooner had the three reached the epicenter, than an entire horde of geth emerged from underground. From Shepard's HUD, Joker saw that it was true that the geth had gotten an upgrade in weapons. The rifles were a crimson red and fired much quicker than Joker remembered. The three circled up back to back and began firing. The everyday geth troopers fell quickly, but the juggernauts, primes, and colossi, were a different story.

"These tin cans sure can take a hit," Wrex said in between firing off shotgun rounds.

A prime delivered an overheated shot that landed at the feet of the group, crumbling the ground beneath them. "And dish it out," Shepard sneered. "Move to cover." The team moved back from where they came, firing at anything that was not human. It looked like the team would get to cover fine until Wrex's HUD was filled with the dirt. "Where's Wrex?" Shepard asked as he looked out from cover, ducking another geth round.

Joker quickly turned to Ashley's HUD as she peaked out from cover ad spotted Wrex crawling backwards and shooting at the geth. "Wrex is down in the open!" Ashley yelled over the sounds of battle. Shepard nodded, giving the Gunnery Chief the okay sign and began providing covering fire. Darting in and out of cover, Ashley slowly made her way towards the downed krogan, who had still managed to not get hit, as Shepard seemed to be the main target.

The geth numbers had dwindled to two colossi when Ashley finally reached Wrex. "Come on big guy, we're getting the hell out of here," Ash grunted as she supported the massive mercenary with a shoulder and started backpedaling.

"Ash, get the hell out of the way!" Shepard called.

The HUD view swiveled to the two colossi as their cannons began to hum. "Come on Ash move, move, move," Joker said fervently, praying Ashley would be able to move in time. The colossi fired and the Gunnery Chief was flung from her position by the blast. The alternating blue sky and rust-colored ground made Joker queasy, but he could not look away. The feed came to a very sudden halt accompanied by a sickening crunch telling Joker that Ashley had hit a very solid wall. Ashley's vitals dropped and the pilot could only watch in horror as the HUD slid to the ground.

"Ash is down. Joker prepare for immediate e-vac. I want you at the Mako before Wrex and I are done with these two machines."

"Affirmative sir," Joker responded as he pushed the Normandy as fast it would go towards the surface of the planet.

So yeah, my first battle focused chapter of this fic, i hope you loved it. Now Review!